Vilo's Hymn
by Anakerie
Summary: 3rd story in "Bonded" series. What appears to be a bizarre weather-related phenomenon has far-reaching affects on the citizens of Auldrant. Jade tries figure it out while dealing with a huge shock. Jadist.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes:

Do not own Tales of the Abyss. Suing is pointless.

This is the 3rd story in the "Bonded" series, taking place about a year after the first story ends. What appears to be a bizarre weather-related phenomenon has far-reaching affects on the citizens of Auldrant. Between trying to puzzle out what is happening, keeping his lover on the straight-and-narrow, and getting the shock of his life in the form of a boy named Vilo, Jade has his hands full. Some years it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Pairings: Jade/Dist. Some Anise/Florian. Please also note that this story takes place roughly 2 years after the end of the game. There is a LOT of debate on how long it took Luke (or Asch if you believe that, or a merger if you believe that) to return. Luke was 17 when the game began and in the final scene they mention his "coming of age" ceremony, which in Auldrant takes place at 20. So the final scene takes place about 2.5 years after the end of the game by my count, and that is what I'm going with for this story. The point of all that is, Luke isn't back yet. He doesn't appear in this story because he's still "dead".

Vilo's Hymn

_The flat roof-top outside the attic window had been cleared of snow tonight, still showing streaks from small, impatient gloved fingers. By morning it would probably be buried again, but that was the price of living in Keterburg for those too young to have any say in the matter. No matter what else happened, there would always be more snow._

_The attic room had been used for storage until the young Master of the house had insisted on occupying it, and no one had had the courage to tell Jade "no" about anything for a long while now. It afforded him a certain amount of privacy that the downstairs bedrooms did not, and he liked having that outer roof ledge to himself. The only people who ever came up here were Nephry, when he deemed to invite her, and Saphir, who needed no invitation._

_The attic had at one time been servant quarters, so it already had a small bathroom and fireplace attached, and Jade had wasted no time in converting it into a sanctuary. Walls were lined with book-shelves, the multiple desks littered with more books and papers, and bits and pieces of equipment. That was really more Saphir's realm than his own. As much as it chafed at him, he was not and never would be mechanically inclined. He'd spent years stewing in impotent frustration, full of ideas and theories and having no way at all to test them in practice. Even the people he'd spoken to who could build the kind of things he envisioned didn't understand what Jade was talking about enough to even make the effort._

_Saphir changed that. Although nearly two years younger, he could take Jade's ideas, examine them, correct any minor flaws, and bring them to life. While the other boy could be annoyingly clingy at times, his usefulness made Jade inclined to be indulgent. He could not admit that he loved his unusual young friend, any more than in those days he could have admitted that he loved Nephry or the professor. People were important to the boy in terms of how they could enhance his own life and it would take a long time for him to see them any other way._

"_It's starting. Are you coming?" Jade asked now, climbing back through the open window and brushing powdery snow from his leather gloves._

_Saphir, who had been busy reading over some of Jade's notes, jumped to his feet immediately and snatched his coat from beside the bed. The older boy waited impatiently for his friend to bundle himself up tightly against the cold night, and picked up a thick spare blanket. The cold really didn't bother him all that much, but even after a year here Saphir still wasn't used to it._

_The children climbed out the window and sat down on the roof ledge. Jade tucked the blanket around both of them. Saphir tentatively leaned over and placed his head on Jade's shoulder, and then snuggled closer when his friend didn't object. It wasn't something the older boy would ever had allowed if he thought there was the slightest chance someone could see them; it wasn't always something he allowed even when they were alone. Jade, unlike the snow, was never predictable._

_On the distant horizons, they watched the Northern Lights wave and dance. There was no rhyme or reason to it, and as usual Saphir was mesmerized. He and his mother had first arrived here at night, and he remembered standing on the dock holding her hand (the only warm spot on his body) and seeing the strange light show for the first time. It never got old for him, and if Jade was in a good mood he could usually coax his friend into watching with him. The older boy would often tease him about it, but Saphir couldn't ever shake the feeling that Jade enjoyed this just as much as he did._

"_So pretty." Saphir muttered now to himself._

"_You say that every time."_

"_That's because it's always pretty. Tell me again what causes it."_

_Jade sighed. "It's like a rainbow. Light from the sun gets caught up in the atmosphere and split out into different colors. No matter how much you want it to be magic, it's not. It's just a trick of light."_

_They sat together in silence for a few minutes, until a shooting star caught their attention._

"_Did you make a wish, Jade?"_

"_Of course not. I'm too old to believe in that sort of thing." He sounded smug, lording his ten years over Saphir's less-impressive eight._

"_Well, I made a wish." Saphir sounded sulky; he never liked being reminded of the difference in their ages. "But I can't tell you or it won't come true."_

"_Well, there's a way around that, you know."_

"_What?"_

"_Wish for the opposite of what you really want. Then tell someone. That way the opposite of what you wished for will happen. Problem solved."_

"_That's great! I never thought of that! But…I thought you didn't believe in wishes."_

"_I don't, but you do."_

_Saphir digested that for a few minutes, content to sit there snuggled up against his best friend, protected against the cold by the blanket and by Jade's body heat. It was late at night now and he was drowsy, but he didn't want to do anything to ruin the moment._

_I wish that when Jade and I are all grown up that we still sit outside together like this and watch the sky, he thought to himself. Of course, we'll be busy scientists by then so we may not have a lot of time, but that's what I wish, anyway._

***********************

With a groan, Jade Curtiss rolled onto his back, gasping for breath. Every nerve ending was still alive; he could feel the prickle of the grass through the thin blanket they'd laid out, could feel the warm night arm drying the sweat on his skin to salt. If his heart hadn't been pounding so hard, he could have even heard the rush of the ocean in the distance.

There was a rustle next to him, and then a bony arm fell across his midsection, followed by the sensation of damp hair against his shoulder. Jade's own muscles were still jerking and twitching in the aftermath of the endorphin release, and being pressed so closely to Saphir he could feel the same little movements and trembles going through his lover as well. Chuckling, he lowered his left arm to embrace the other man.

"So…." Jade finally was able to speak. "Do you think they heard us this time?"

"Maybe you." Saphir retorted. "I kept our agreement. I was very quiet."

"Oh, I don't know about that. You didn't scream: I'd hardly say you were quiet."

"Well, if they did hear they should be thanking us for making their evening more…exciting."

Jade put his free hand up over his eyes and groaned again, this time for a different reason.

"_Look, Jade, this normally…sorry… is for the city guards to handle, but the truth is none of them had the balls to come to you about it, and…just a moment…when I found out why…well, I thought maybe you'd appreciate it more if I spoke with you…gasp… directly. Your neighbors have filed a…snort…complaint."_

"_A complaint? About what? And what exactly are you finding so hysterical?"_

"_Damn it, Jade. This…I'm sorry…just when I heard…they can hear you, man."_

"_Hear me?"_

"_When you guys are outside. Well, it's mostly Saphir they can hear, I guess, unless you're yelling at yourself to pick up the pace."_

"_Your Majesty!"_

"_Now don't shoot the messenger here. I just said I'd said I'd talk to you about it. If you ask me they're just being a bunch of busybodies, but a complaint was filed so…maybe you could gag him next time. He might actually enjoy that."_

"_I'm no longer having this conversation with you."_

If Saphir had any complaints about their life together, it would have probably been that Jade, as loving as he could be in private, didn't have a romantic bone in his entire body. He considered, for the most part, romance to be maudlin nonsense. He wasn't about to purchase flowers when the garden was full of them, and was more likely to surprise his lover with a book of quantum mechanics than love poetry. Of course fate had deemed to give him a companion who craved that sort of "maudlin nonsense".

Through some experimentation, Jade had discovered that with Saphir even a little bit of romance seemed to go a long way. It didn't take all that much to make him happy. While Jade would put "making love under the stars" at the top of his romantic cliché's list, he'd actually found to his own surprise he enjoyed it. The walls around the back garden were high, after all, and it wasn't like anyone could see them. He wasn't an exhibitionist any more than he was a romantic. After the neighbors had voiced their opinion, he'd discussed the situation with Saphir and agreed that their evenings outside could continue as long as they both made the effort to be a bit more…discreet.

Saphir, true to form, thought the neighbors were just jealous.

They lay together now on the blanket, and Saphir's index finger moved in what seemed to be random patterns over Jade's chest. After a minute, Jade had realized there was nothing random about it; Saphir was actually tracing out the letters of his own name on the damp skin. Well, he supposed there were worse ways for someone to mark their territory.

We should really get up and go back inside, Jade thought now with reluctance. Get a shower, go to sleep in our own bed instead of out here. Otherwise we'll regret it in the morning.

He was about to sit up when suddenly above him the sky seemed to…shimmer. There was no other word for it. It was like for the briefest second looking through a haze of heat, and then the stars vanished into field of bright yellow.

"What in hell?" Saphir bolted upright, proving to Jade that he hadn't imagined it.

The sky stayed yellow for about two heartbeats, then turned to blood red for about three, followed by a rapid-fire change to blue, orange, and back to black before reverting to yellow. The colors continued to change, no pattern to them.

Jade's first confused thought was that although they were fairly far north he'd never seen the Northern Lights from Grand Chokmah before, but he dismissed the thought instantly. This looked nothing like the colors he'd grown up taking for granted. It was so bright that as he stood up the colors reflected off of his bare skin.

"What's going on?" Saphir, his glasses still on the pile of clothing next to the blanket, peered up myopically.

"No idea. I've never seen anything like this. Come on, we need to find Peony."

They dressed rapidly, hearing in the distance people leaving their own homes and beginning to gather in the streets.

Entering the small house and not bothering to turn on any lights (the light coming through the windows from the odd display was more than sufficient) they made their way to front exit. Jade stopped and entered the code that would allow Saphir to safely leave the property. Until he knew what was going on, he didn't feel comfortable leaving his lover here alone, and he highly doubted Saphir would approve of that either.

They joined the milling crowd in the street, side-stepping those who were looking upward and not bothering to watch where they were going. So far, no one was panicking, but Jade knew how rapidly that could change. Above them, the colors still pulsed.

"Colonel Curtiss, what's happening? Are we being attacked?"

"Is it Kimlasca?"

"Was there an explosion?"

"I know as much as you do." Jade kept to a stock answer. "I'm on my way to speak with the Emperor. Please remain calm. Go back inside your homes." He knew the last bit was useless, but felt the need to say it anyway.

"Jade!"

Peony met them before they were halfway to the palace. "Isn't it wild? What's causing it?"

"My best guess is something to do with the breakdown of fonic arts, although why it should chose to manifest itself like this I have no idea. Saphir?"

"I haven't a clue. I thought it was the Northern Lights at first, but…"

"But it's clearly not." Peony finished. "I watched them enough times with you guys; I remember what they look like."

"You invited yourself to watch, you mean."

"Jade invited me. And I know you pushed me off the roof that time."

"I told you, I slipped on the ice. If you weren't so clumsy…"

"Gentlemen, please. As fascinating as this trip down memory lane is, it's really not solving anything." Jade did not want to recall the image of the young prince hanging from the roof ledge by his fingertips; he had been convinced that night that Peony was going to plummet to his death and that he and Saphir would be summarily executed for royal assassination.

Sulking, Saphir moved to stand next to the water, leaving Peony and Jade alone to talk. The terms of his Bond were that in public he had to always remain within grabbing distance of his Bond Master, but if Jade wanted to enforce his rights then he could damn well come over here and enforce them.

"Whatever it is, I hope it stops. It's starting to give me a headache." Peony frowned up at the flashing sky again. "I'd love to know what Sheridan and Belkend are making of it, assuming they can see it down there, but I'm not about to send the Albiore up."

"I'm sure we have enough equipment in the lab at home that Saphir could cobble together some kind of barometric device. It might give us a general idea if it's weather-related or something else."

Peony nodded, then looked over Jade's shoulder and frowned again. "In that case." He pointed. "You might want to go rescue him before he ends up soaked."

A group of citizens had surrounded Saphir, edging him closer to the lip of the walkway just above the drop-off. As Jade quickly approached them, he could hear Saphir's angry voice above the general din.

"….far more spectacular than a display of pretty lights! And if I were responsible, I'd make damn sure you knew it was me! You'd be on your knees begging for salvation right now!"

Jade sighed. Dist always did pick the worst times to reemerge. "Dr. Neis hasn't been out of my sight the entire evening." He spoke loudly. "Whatever is going on, I can assure you that he has nothing to do with it. Let him be."

The small mob disbursed, but did not look convinced. Jade firmly took Saphir by the elbow and began herding him back to where Peony stood. "Ignorant cretins!" Saphir yelled back over his shoulder.

"Honestly, I can't take you anywhere."

"They started it!"

"Yes, love, I know. If we survive the night, I'll have them all beheaded. Will that make you happy?"

"I'd say yes, but then you'd just lecture me again." He grumbled as they rejoined the emperor.

"Yes." Saphir nodded after they explained what they wanted. "It should be easy enough: I've only been building those since I was nine. Give me a few hours, but I don't know what good you think it will do."

"Well, it can't cause any harm." Jade glanced up at the pulsating colors again. "It gives us something to do in the meanwhile."

"You mean it gives me something to do, while as usual you'll just stand there and take credit for it."

"Oh, absolutely."

"Well, you'll have to escort me home if you want your barometer. I won't control myself if those lunkheads accost me again."

Peony looked from one to the other, trying to decide if they were serious or simply teasing each other: at times it was hard to tell.

"Wow, you're in a snit tonight." He commented to Saphir.

"Don't mind him, Your Majesty. We were interrupted at a rather inconvenient time."

"Well, that explains why you smell like…"

Saphir opened his mouth, preparing for a tirade of epic proportions against the emperor. Jade slapped a hand over it.

"Well, with that I think we should be going. Everything appears stable for the moment. If the situation changes you know where to find me." He bowed deeply, jerking Saphir down with him.

With a last, lethal look at Peony, Saphir allowed himself to be pulled back down the street, still muttering against Jade's hand.

Peony looked up at the sky again, trying to see a pattern to the colors and finally giving up. Well, between the two of them Jade and Saphir would figure out what was going on.

Hopefully.


	2. Chapter 2

_Once again, I own nothing. _

_**Chapter 2**_

_The small rooms were in the interior part of the house, windowless, and tonight not even light by firelight as they'd been in the past. The darkness didn't bother Jade: he could see as well now in the dark as in the light, and he'd been here enough that even without his augmented vision he knew where he was going. _

_He followed sound now, and instinct: ragged, animal-like noises, a keening grief that he tried and failed to understand. He understood the why, but the emotion behind it was so alien to him it might well have been coming from an animal. Still, something drew him forward anyway, past the first small, empty bed toward a larger one, and the broken figure lying sprawled across it._

"_Saphir." _

_The figure stirred and Jade sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out awkwardly to touch the other boy on the arm. "I'm here."_

"_Oh, Jade." There was a rush of movement and Saphir was grabbing him, clinging to him, still sobbing uncontrollably, and Jade forced himself to hold on because this was important: this was something that needed to be done even if he couldn't comprehend why. _

_Finally, Jade pushed his friend back and took Saphir's chin in his fingers, forcing the other boy's teary face upward. He knew that in the black room, Saphir could barely see him._

"_She's not coming back. You have to go on."_

"_I know." He rubbed at his cheek with the back of his hand. "I just miss her so much…"_

_Would he miss his own mother like this, Jade wondered. What if tomorrow morning he awoke to find her dead? Would he be this crippled with grief? He doubted it; his mother didn't even like him, let alone love him. Saphir's mother had adored him, and even though the younger boy had often complained about her "smothering" him he knew Saphir had loved her back. _

_Himself, he hadn't minded Molly, because she'd always been respectful to him. He didn't think she'd actually liked him; no one did, after all. But she'd never tried to interfere in his friendship with Saphir. They had a sort of grudging understanding where the boy was concerned, almost like a shared custody arrangement. Plus, Molly knew that Jade was the one who'd gotten Saphir into Professor Nebilim's school and was grateful to him for that. _

_Saphir, he thought now, as the boy continued to sob, was useless like this. Jade had already nipped the plan to ship him off to Grand Chokmah in the bud; they would remain together. What more did the boy want? It was nearly a week since Molly had died; surely he'd have to snap out of it sometime soon. _

"_Come on, get your things." Jade came to a decision. "You can sleep in my room for a while. You shouldn't be alone."_

"_But…"_

"_Get packed. Only for a little while, though." He was firm on that. "Just until you're okay alone again."_

"_Okay…thank you, Jade. Just for a while, I promise."_

_Good. He'd made the right decision. It was frustrating at times; numbers were so easy and people were so complicated. So fragile. He didn't think Saphir would be damaged forever by the loss of his mother, and if the comfort of his presence could expedite getting his friend back to his former self then he would allow it. _

_I need him. I need him to be okay._

*************************

The lights faded at dawn, and returned at sunset. They became, as much as they could be, predictable. And just as the fascination with them had began to turn to a grudging, baffled acceptance, and Jade was starting to believe that whatever the odd phenomena was it was harmless, the other shoe had dropped. This one with the potential for much more dire consequences. It was this second development that had brought himself and Saphir to Keterburg for an unplanned visit.

In Nephry's living room, Saphir wasn't thinking about lights at the moment or what was happening to his boyhood home. He had bigger concerns.

"Sulfur."

"No, no, not 'sulfur'. Saphir. Say 'Saphir'"

"Sulfur." The baby giggled and reached up to try and yank Saphir's glasses from his nose.

"I swear, you're as bad as your uncle. You could say it if you wanted to. You're just teasing me." Saphir pried the tiny fingers loose. Oh, well, it wasn't as bad as what Michael called Jade.

He made a face at the infant, causing him to burst into giggles again.

At a year old, Michael was just getting the hang of walking and talking, aided of course by his doting parents and his best friend, Wilbert II. (Wilbert I had been missing in action for about six months now, and had last been reported swearing his way through Belkend.) He was a good-tempered child for the most part, bearing an almost startling resemblance to his uncle Jade, and with an avid curiosity about anything and everything. But while even as a baby Jade had resisted being petted and cuddled, Michael craved it. He was perfectly happy being held for hours at a time, especially by the people he loved.

"What are you going to be like in a few years, humm?" Saphir stood the child up legs that were still wobbly. "You have quite a legacy to live up to, young man."

"Are you pressuring my nephew again? I've told you before; as long as he's content I don't care if he's dumb as a brick."

"He will never be dumb as a brick. You can tell from his eyes how smart he is. Isn't that right, Michael?" Saphir glanced up as Jade entered the room, rubbing his own eyes. "Well?"

"I'm at a loss. Completely and totally at a loss." Jade sat down wearily in a nearby chair, and for the first to Saphir he actually looked old. Well, he was only a few years on the good side of forty, but he'd never actually looked old before. These last few weeks had seemed to age him rapidly, and Saphir felt a pin-prick of alarm. "It has to be related to those damned lights, but the barometer shows nothing. We've run every test we can think of and there's no logical explanation for any of this."

"Damn lights." Michael chimed in happily. "Damn, damn, damn lights."

"Yes, Michael, that's exactly how I feel about them."

Saphir stood up, taking the baby with him, and walked over to the window of the living room, staring out into the street beyond. How many times had he wished for something like this in his boyhood? Now that it was happening, all he felt was fear. Fear and bafflement.

Children ran up and down between the buildings, bare armed and bare-legged, with bare feet sinking into puddles of mud. Small green shoots pushed up in places, coming out of an eon's-old freeze to burst into life. When had there ever been green life in Keterburg?

Even now he could feel the heat of the sun blasting him through the glass window. It wasn't just warm outside, it was hot. The only place you could even see a trace of snow any longer was in the distance at the top of Mt. Roneal, and even that seemed to diminish daily.

While the children were free to enjoy the unusual treat of not being half-frozen, it fell to the adults to shore up buildings against flooding from the melting snow. Those who were in the business of selling thick hats and coats to tourists stood outside the doors of their shops chatting with each other, drinking tea, and giving the sky worried, betrayed looks.

What the long-term effects would be, Jade couldn't say. There would definitely be some increase in the water level; creatures born and bred in the frigid climate might well become extinct before the year was out. The same thing was happening to the south of them as well; the poles were literally turning to water and no one had any idea what was causing it or how to stop it.

And if the poles became almost unbearably hot, what would happen to the rest of the world? Would it heat up as well?

"Well, I don't suppose you have any ideas?" He glanced over at Michael, who had placed both palms against the warm window glass. "It is your home, after all."

Michael craned his neck around and studied Jade carefully. "Mama."

Saphir snickered. While the resemblance between the Balfour siblings was marked, to the best of his knowledge no one had ever gotten them mixed up before. He didn't think Michael was doing so now: the child knew full well who his mother was, but perhaps because Jade looked so much like her he had decided the word applied to his uncle as well. Neither Jade nor Nephry found this as amusing as Saphir did.

"Mama, mama, mama." Michael sang out, and held his arms out to Jade. With a sigh his uncle took him and stared down into his eyes. Michael began sucking on his thumb and observed Jade back from under long eyelashes.

"Mama is in the other room. Once again, I'm Uncle Jade, or just Jade if you prefer that, but I can assure you that I am no one's Mama."

"Oh, you can be a mothe…"

"I would highly suggest you don't finish that sentiment, 'Sulfur'."

"At least he tries to say my name." Saphir sounded smug.

Jade tried to be annoyed, but couldn't. In a way it was funny, and the boy would outgrow his confusion soon enough. It was nice to have something else to focus on for a change, other than trying to solve a problem he didn't have the first idea about, and about which everyone expected him to be the one to come up with an answer to. He only had a vague idea of where to start.

"I wish you'd reconsider this." Saphir began, and Jade sighed.

"No. I've explained my reasons to you. I'm heading to the Absorption Gate as soon as Guy arrives. Between the two of us we should be able to handle any nasties we run across. We more than likely won't find anything, but it may be the key to this entire thing."

"Then I want to come with you."

"And again, no. You have no fighting skills of your own, and there isn't time for you to build one of your machines. I doubt Wilbert II is going to be a great deal of help. You'd only be in our way. You'll stay here with Nephry, and so help me if you even consider sneaking out to follow me I'll break my promise and beat you within an inch of your life."

Saphir growled under his breath but said nothing.

******************

"Halt! You stop right there, Mister. Don't you even think of opening that door."

Saphir paused with his hand on the knob, and then turned to give Nephry the dirtiest look he could manage. Becoming a mother had given her some incredibly annoying traits. Not the least of which were eyes in the back of her head.

"They should have been back hours ago! I cannot just sit here waiting. He's your brother; how can you be so calm?"

"Because I know my brother, and Jade can take care of himself. I know you're worried, but he'll be fine. It's not like he's alone."

"He's also not up to his full strength! You don't know how much he's exhausted himself trying to figure out what's happening." Saphir began pacing without even realizing it. "If anything happens…"

"Saphir, sit. Come on, sit with me. Keep me company." She patted the sofa next to her.

"You have a husband for that. I can't say I think much of him, going to sleep and leaving you to keep vigil without him."

Nephry started to snap at him, and then stopped herself. He was tired and just looking for someone to take it all out on, and Rory made an easy target. Like his son, he was amiable and friendly, with a laid-back to approach to life that she envied. He was, if she had to be honest, a good deal like Peony. Maybe that was why she loved him so much, and why Saphir disliked him so deeply. Right now Rory was dead to the world, convinced that Jade would be perfectly fine without him staying up all night to wait for his return. She wished she was there next to him, but knew she'd never be able to rest without knowing for certain that her older brother was alright.

Saphir finally gave up his pacing and sat down at her side, his fingers drumming on the arm of the sofa. It was irritating, but she couldn't find the heart to scold him. After all, she'd spent most of her childhood silently watching his fondness for her older brother crystallize into obsession. If she going to continue with the tendency she had tonight of being completely truthful with herself, it had always made her uncomfortable. As a child, Jade generally treated the other boy like a clever lapdog, and Saphir had never seemed to mind dancing around for what little scraps her brother deemed to hand out. Maybe things were different now; as much as they bickered they certainly seemed to be happy with their unconventional relationship, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Jade still took Saphir's affection for granted. That had gone horribly wrong once: she wasn't sure either of them would survive if it happened again.

Her brooding was interrupted when the front door opened and a blast of warm (how _wrong_ that felt) night air hit them.

"Told you they'd be waiting up." Guy commented wearily to Jade as they entered the house. "Maybe they don't need any sleep, but right now I sure do."

"You find a bed. I'm content with just curling up on the floor here." Jade rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm getting much too old for this sort of thing."

Guy nodded, waved a greeting to Nephry, and wandered off to find a place of his own to collapse.

After all his fretting, Nephry had expected Saphir to go flying to Jade's arms. Instead, he had pointedly turned away from them and was facing the wall.

"Well?" Nephry demanded. "Did you find anything?"

"Yes and no." Jade sat down on the couch next to Saphir, giving his back an amused look. "Everything appears to be in order, except someone else has definitely been there, and recently. There were fresh human footprints in the dust. Nothing tampered with, but either our other someone was trying to figure out how to stop the phenomenon or is responsible for it."

"You mean, this could all be on purpose? Why? What could they have to gain?"

"By melting Keterburg? Absolutely. Someone who has spent their entire life dreaming of owning an outdoor swimming pool, for example, would have ample motive."

"Be serious."

"I am. I didn't say it had to be a particularly good motive. People do all kinds of stupid things for foolish reasons." He glanced at Saphir again, who was still pretending to ignore him. "What's more important is finding out who they are and putting a stop to it."

"Well, there's nothing more any of us can do tonight." Nephry stood up and yawned. "I'm going to bed now that I know you both are okay. See you in the morning."

"Sweet dreams."

When she was gone, Jade sagged back into the couch, every muscle in his body aching. The creatures that made the Absorption Gate their home had grown in strength and number of the last several years; while he'd had no real trouble thanks to his own abilities and Guy's swordsmanship, he doubted he could have handled the trip on his own. Maybe he really was getting old.

"If you're done pouting, we should probably get some sleep too." He commented to Saphir at last.

Saphir shrugged. "Do what you want. It's not like I have any say in the matter."

"Don't you think I have enough to worry about right now?" Jade tried to keep his voice steady. "Everyone's expecting me to just magically solve this entire mess single-handedly, including Peony. So forgive me for wanting you to remain here, and safe, so there's at least one thing I don't have to distract myself over."

"I am not useless, you know. You're going to need my skills."

"I realize that. And when I do I intend to make full use of them."

"You could have used me today. I could have tested the machinery at the bottom of the gate, told you for certain if it had been tampered with."

"And luckily, you've educated Guy thoroughly enough that he was able to do that in your stead."

Saphir eyed him, clearly torn between his anger at being left behind and his pride in his young pupil.

"Look, I'm not up to fighting with you about this any longer tonight." He had a flash of inspiration. "I took a nasty tumble after some monsters ambushed us and pulled something in my back. It hurts terribly and I just want to try and sleep it off."

Instantly Saphir's face turned to concern. "You're hurt? But you were walking okay…"

"I didn't want to worry Nephry." He stretched and made a grimace of pain, trying to look as pitiful as possible.

Saphir was still so easily to manipulate, Jade thought, as he allowed his lover to "help" him to his feet and leaned as much weight as he dared on the smaller man's shoulder. Not that he made a habit of it anymore, but a little while lie now and then didn't really hurt anyone. It was for a good cause.

_I need him. I need him to be okay._

_***************_

_Preview for chapter 3:_

Jade's visit to Keterburg is cut short by an urgent letter from Peony.

Some people say it with flowers: 11-year-old Vilo prefers rocks.

Jade is left speechless for one of the few times in his life.

Saphir makes a friend.


	3. Chapter 3

I still don't own them. Rats.

**Chapter 3**

There was no valid reason Vilo could ever think of for standing out in a crowd.

When people noticed you, they asked questions, stuck their noses in where they didn't belong. Everyone always wanted to know everyone else's business, but only if you looked like your business might be interesting. If you just kept your head down, and looked busy, and didn't make eye contact, they pretty much left you alone.

Not always; there would always be people who just wanted to start trouble. In those cases your best defense was the ability to move fast and lose yourself in the first crowd you found. It wasn't so bad if you knew how to be careful.

No one paid any attention to him today as he wandered down the streets of Grand Chokmah, looking for all the world like any other boy out running errands or looking to hook up with friends. He had even waited until the other children would be out of school, so no one had any reason to stop him and ask why he wasn't sweating away in some classroom at the moment. If anyone thought his oversized, well-mended clothing looked odd, it wasn't odd enough to raise any concern.

He still had to be careful: Miss Darla probably had the older boys out looking for him by now. He liked Darla well enough, he supposed, but she was the biggest busybody of all and paid far too much attention to what the kids were doing. Her "goons" (as he referred to them) were boys almost old enough to be "released into the wild" as Miss Darla put it, and had been there long enough to be annoyingly loyal to the woman.

It didn't take him all that long to reach his target; a small house that was pretty good on its own of not standing out. Other than the wall surrounding it, it could have been any other house in Grand Chokmah, and for some reason that surprised him. He'd expected something grander, flashier.

The gate was locked tight, but he'd been scaling the walls of Chesedonia for fun his entire life: the rough stone was no challenge for him and in a heartbeat he'd dropped down into the tall grass on the other side.

For a long minute, he stood there staring at the house, trying to make up his mind exactly what he intended to do. Deciding to come here was one thing; he'd made the decision to come here since before they'd boxed him up and shipped him to Grand Chokmah. It had seemed like fate at the time, maybe something that had been written in the Score. Of course, there was no Score any more, and his mother had never believed in it anyway. "A form of slavery." She'd always stated. "You and I, we'll forge our own path."

He just wished her own path hadn't led to her leaving him so soon.

He glared at the house now, his temper flaring and the vein in his forehead (his warning light, Mom had called it) starting to throb. Who did he think he was, anyway? Living in a nice house, with a lot of money, everyone respecting him. Who had ever respected his mother? Who had ever looked at her as anything but human garbage? Why did she have to spend her entire life suffering because of men like this? It was a man just like this one who had finally killed her; cut her up like some kind of animal and left her in her bed for her son to come home and find.

He tried to fight back the tears because his mother hadn't liked it when he cried; tears were for weak people and they were strong. They were survivors. He was eleven now; way too old to bawl, but in spite of all of it the tears blurred the house in front of him, and before he knew it he was reaching down, picking up a garden stone, and flinging it at the large front window as hard as he could.

The glass shattered from the force of the stone with a sound that was musical to Vilo's ears and he laughed through his tears, picked up another stone, and hurled it through the window on the other side of the front door. He could hear, dimly, an alarm going off somewhere, but couldn't bring himself to care.

Moving automatically, he crawled through the broken front window, avoiding the shattered glass and coming to stand in the living room, looking around wildly for something else to take his rage out on. His eyes fell on a fairly new looking leather sofa, and he grabbed a shard of broken glass off of the floor and attacked it with a vengeance until the air was thick with feathers.

Still holding the glass, he shoved open a door and found himself in what appeared to be a library. So the bastard liked to read? Well, good for him. Vilo grabbed the first leather-bound volume off of a shelf and tore out pages at random, then grabbed another, shredding them one by one until torn paper littered the floor.

The kitchen was next, the fine plates and cups turning to dust as they shattered against the far wall. Some part of him that was still rational was screaming at him to stop, to get out of here, to consider what he was doing. He ignored it, panting, and then started for what he assumed was a bedroom. There had to be lots of good things to break in there.

"Freeze!"

He whipped around, the glass shard still in his hand.

"Drop it, kid." A blue-clad guard had his sword drawn. "Put it down."

The glass fell from Vilo's hand and smashed against the floor, and suddenly the energy sagged out of him. He glanced at the destruction around him hazily, and it took him a second to remember that he had caused it.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" The second guard sounded amazed. "Do you know whose house this is, you little brat?"

Vilo shrugged, not bothering to answer that he knew damn well whose house this was. He wondered insanely how long it had taken the guards to make it over the wall and bit down a giggle.

"Colonel Jade Curtiss, that's who. Jade the Necromancer. Do you have any idea what he's probably going to do you? Probably cut you up into little pieces and experiment on you, and that's if you're lucky. And if he doesn't, he's also the Emperor's best friend: Emperor Peony will have you locked in prison until you're a shriveled-up old man."

"Maybe we should take him directly to His Majesty. He'll want to know about this."

"That's not a bad idea. Come on, brat. Let's go. You can explain yourself to the Emperor."

Vilo stood limp as they cuffed his hands behind his back, not bothering to point out to them that the cuffs hung so loosely on his wrists he could have slipped out of them easily. The blinding rage had faded into a numbness. Whatever they wanted to do to him, he didn't care at this point. It won't make any difference.

Nothing mattered any longer.

************************

Peony listened in amazement to the report, and stared in what could have been rightly described as awe at the young culprit before him. "HE did all that?"

"We found no one else at the home, Your Majesty. Just him." The guard put a hand on Vilo's shoulder and shook him a little. "We figured, you being such good friends with Colonel Curtiss and all, you might want to handle it personally."

"Of course, thank you." He motioned the child forward.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"Vilo."

"Vilo what?"

"Just Vilo."

"Okay, Just Vilo. Where do you live?"

"The Children's Home. I just got here from Chesedonia."

"You're an orphan?"

The boy shrugged one shoulder. "Sort of."

"Well, Vilo, it's like this. Jade's been my best pal since we were littler than you are now. You're what? Ten?"

"Eleven."

"Eleven. And anyway, over those years Jade has done a lot to piss people off. I mean, I love the guy to death, but he can really rub someone the wrong way. I don't think you just picked his house at random, so that means he did something to you personally. Since he is my friend, I have the right to yell at him. I like having that right. So if you tell me what he did, I can make him make up for it. Must have been something pretty rotten to make you that angry."

"Of course…." Something crossed Peony's mind. "Saphir lives there do. You probably know him better as Dist the Reaper. Was it Dist that did something to you, kiddo? Is he who you're mad at?"

"No. Just the other one. The Colonel."

"Okay, why? Tell me why and I'll try and make it better."

The boy stared at him for a moment under a long shock of straight black hair. He was small for his age, thin and fine-boned, and care-worn looking. Not dirty, but he had the look about him of someone who no one really had any time or attention for.

"I'll tell you." Vilo finally came to a decision. "But I won't tell them. It's none of their business." He glanced back at the guards.

"Fair enough. Uncuff him and you can go." He motioned at the two men. "Thank you for your help."

"Your Majesty…"

"Oh please, do you really think I'm in any danger from him? Give me a little credit."

Vilo wiggled his fingers and the cuffs fell to the floor behind him. He bent, picked them up, and handed them back to the first guard, who took them with a look of embarrassment. Peony burst out laughing.

"Okay, they're gone. Just the two of us. So tell me, what's your beef with Jade?"

"He's my father."

"I'm…sorry?"

"I said, he's my father."

Peony leaned back in the chair. "I…Jade doesn't have any kids."

"He has me."

"Maybe you better start at the beginning."

"The beginning is, he's my father."

"Okay, we've established that. And your mother is…"

"Dead. She died last week. A john killed her."

"Someone named John killed your mother?"

"No! I don't know his name. He was a john. A client."

"Your mother was…"

"A prostitute. You can say it. I'm not ashamed of it or anything." His voice became tight with anger.

"I didn't say you should be."

"Anyway, Jade hired her a long time ago. And they made me."

Peony tried to calm his rushing thoughts as he examined the child again. The boy couldn't have looked less like Jade: black hair, black eyes. Completely different features. It was absurd, but… he knew Jade. Jade had the highest respect for "working women" as he put it, and had been quite generous with them in the past. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility…

"I look like my Mom." The boy seemed to read Peony's thoughts.

"I see. Look, Vilo…I'm not saying you're lying, but is it possible your mother was mistaken? I mean, there were probably…err…other candidates."

"She wasn't. She knew it was him. She told me so over and over."

"Why didn't she tell _him_ then? Jade's got his flaws, but he'd never turn his back on his own child. He'd have come for you immediately."

"That's why she didn't tell him. She said that men like him like girls like her, but they don't like them raising their kids. She always said if he found out, he'd take me away and I'd never see her again. I tried to write him a letter once a few years ago and she got pretty mad at me."

"Wow. Alright, well, it's easy for us to find out for certain. There's a test we can do; we can compare your fonons with his and see if there's a match. He's not in town right now, but I'll fix that. I'll get him back here immediately."

"Do you have to?"

"What?"

"Why does he have to know? I'll fix what I did to his house, but can't you just…not tell him the rest of it? I'll go away and never bother him again, I swear."

"Vilo, I can't do that. If he's your father he has the right to know about you. This isn't something I can keep secret. Besides, Jade's like my brother; that would make me sort of your uncle, right? I don't have any nephews; it sounds like fun."

"Do I have to go back to the orphanage?"

"No, of course not. You'll stay here as my guest until Jade gets back. Hey, do you like rappigs?"

"Nah, they taste gross."

"No, not to eat. They're my pets. I'll introduce you. Wait until you meet my favorite. His name is Perry…"

*********************

_Jade:_

_I've sent the Albiore IV to pick you up. You need to get back to Grand Chokmah immediately. When you get here, come straight to the palace. Do NOT go home first! That is an official order. _

_P.S. Bring Saphir. We're going to need him._

"Well, we're here, Your Majesty. I can't imagine what could possibly be more important that what's going on in Keterburg, but…"

Peony held up a hand to stop Jade. "You may want to sit down."

"I'm fine standing, thank you."

"Have it your own way. Earlier today, your house was vandalized. I mean, really trashed, man. Everything was torn apart. The guards caught the vandal in the act."

"I see. And where is this gentleman so that I might have a word with him?"

"You're crazy if you think I'm cleaning it up!" Saphir felt the need to interject.

"It was a kid, Jade, a boy. He's eleven. His name is Vilo."

"I really couldn't care less what he calls himself. Might I ask the reason for his…tantrum?"

"Oh, he has a good one. Jade… he says he's your son."

"I beg your pardon?"

"He says he's your son. I know, it's insane, but he told me the story and…it's possible. I'm just saying it's possible."

"I think I need to sit down." Jade sank into a nearby chair. "Your Majesty, I assure you, if this is some kind of a prank…"

"It's not." Peony quickly summarized what Vilo had relayed to him. "Do you remember his mother at all?"

"Your Majesty, I may be a genius, but even I can't possibly be expected to recall all of the women I…entertained." He held up a hand to stop Saphir's angry outburst. Now really wasn't the time. "Where is he?"

"In the other room. I wanted to prepare you first. I figure that Saphir can do some kind of fonon test, right? Then we'll know one way or the other for certain. I know this is a shock, but whether or not it's true, keep in mind that he believes it."

"How ridiculous. You really expect us to believe that Jade would have a common vandal for a child? Bring the brat back to our house, what's left of it, and I'll run the test. Then after he's done repairing the damage we can have him skinned."

"I want to see him. Please."

"Of course." Peony stepped into the other room, and returned a moment later, his hand on the Vilo's shoulder. "Vilo, this is Jade Curtiss. Jade, this is Vilo."

Jade stared at the boy, who glared back up at him, trying to look unafraid and unaware that he was failing miserably. "Hello, Vilo. His Majesty has informed me of your…claim."

"You think I'm lying."

"No, but I do think it's possible your mother was mistaken. You must admit, at the moment there's nothing but her word to back up what you're saying."

"So test me. He…" Vilo jerked his head at Peony. "Said you could. You'll see."

"I intend to. The equipment needed is back at my house. I understand you know the way."

"You told him about that?" He gave Peony a betrayed look.

"Kid, he was bound to notice."

"We'll discuss that later. It's not important at the moment."

"Oh, we'll discuss it alright." Saphir cut in. "So help me if you touched a single thing in my lab…"

Vilo eyed Saphir up and down. "You don't look so scary." He said at last.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You don't look scary. I always heard how scary the God-Generals were. I saw Largo once in Chesedonia and he was really scary looking. You look kind of puny."

"Young man, I assure you that I can be _quite _intimidating when I choose to be!"

Vilo raised an eyebrow in skepticism and Saphir looked…startled. That was the only way Peony could describe it. It was no wonder: for the briefest second, for the first time, the boy looked almost uncannily like Jade.

"Your mother died recently?" Saphir asked the child now.

"So?"

"I'm sorry. My own mother died when I was your age. It was horrid."

"Yeah. She was cool. Did you go live with your father?"

"No, I never knew my father. I lived with Jade and his family."

"When did you stop missing her?"

"Never. I still miss her to this day. But I know she'd want me to go forward. I also know she would be quite upset with me if I expressed my grief by destroying someone's home. I live there too, you know. I'm expected to keep the place clean, and I don't appreciate you making my job more difficult."

"Sorry. Is the test going to hurt?"

"A bit. If you prove to be annoying I'll make sure it's extremely painful."

For the first time, Vilo actually smiled. Peony gave Jade a surprised, sideways look. Jade shrugged as if to say "just go with it."

_He can't be mine. It's not possible. I would know if I had a child, wouldn't I? Wouldn't I have felt it? Wouldn't I feel it now looking at him? Wouldn't I feel something? And if he is mine, what in the world am I supposed to do with him?_


	4. Chapter 4

Author's notes:

I still don't own the Tales characters. My undying thanks for the feedback so far. : ) Some people may catch on to who the man at the end is immediately. I wanted it to be obvious but not too obvious. He wasn't supposed to appear in this story, but he insisted.

**Chapter 4**

"My, my. You certainly were a busy boy."

Jade glanced around the destroyed living room, his eyes falling on the ruined sofa. Well, at least this one hadn't flown away, but really… He shook aside the useless thoughts. Peony had, for the sake of security, already had the broken windows replaced. However, the room was still littered with feathers and broken glass, and the glass was crunching under his boots. He suspected they'd be finding bits of glass for weeks even after the place was cleaned.

Vilo glanced up at him, swallowed hard, and took a step closer to his new (hopefully protective) friend the Emperor, who had insisted on coming along. Jade didn't know whether to be amused or somewhat insulted. "Shall we?"

Saphir had taken in the destruction too but said nothing, to Jade's surprise. His lover was extremely fussy about the state of their home. However, the glances he had been giving Vilo all the way here were almost gentle, and that surprised Jade as well.

Down in the lab, Vilo glanced around at the various machines and inventions in undisguised delight. "Wow. Did you make all of this?"

"Don't touch anything. Of course I did. It's the result of years of Fontech research; your generation has no concept of spending your entire lives dedicated to one goal. You just flit from one thing to the next like bees. Your fa…" he caught himself. "Jade usually comes up with the ideas but it's my job to make them work. Give me your hand."

He had picked a small device off of the table, and attached a tiny pin to one end. "I'll need a few drops of your blood."

The boy hesitated and held out his right hand. Saphir grabbed one grimy index finger, and the sighed. He picked up a bottle of liquid from the table, poured it on a piece of cloth, and scrubbed the digit back to pink. As he pushed the tip of the pin into the pad of Vilo's fingertip, the boy winced and a single red drop of blood appeared. Nodding in satisfaction, Saphir siphoned it up and inserted in into the device, typing something on the screen to identify it.

"Malnourished." He pronounced. "This boy's iron count is shameful. He doesn't appear to be ill otherwise, but he's definitely underfed."

"But is Jade my father?"

"I'll know when I test him."

"Isn't there any other way you could do this?" Jade looked slightly ill. "You know I detest needles."

Saphir blinked; this was news to him. Jade had never hesitated to experiment on himself and had never expressed any fear of having his blood drawn. Then it dawned on him that the other man was simply playing along for the child's sake, trying to make him feel brave by comparison. It seemed to work: Vilo cast a scornful look in Jade's direction. "It really doesn't hurt _that _bad."

"Oh, you big baby. If the boy can survive it, so can you. How else am I supposed to test your blood; send it an engraved invitation for tea and hope that it shows up on its own?"

"Fine, just do it quickly." Jade offered his hand, and closed his eyes tightly as the needle pierced his fingertip.

Saphir entered the second fonon data into the device and poked at the screen for a few seconds.

"Well?" Jade asked impatiently.

Saphir thrust the meter into his face. "See for yourself."

Jade studied the data on the screen, his mind so jumbled with racing thoughts it was hard to put them all together. It was impossible, but the results were unmistakable. The boy's fonons were a clear match to his own; they even had the same blood-type.

"Congratulations." Saphir commented dryly. "It's a boy. Well, what are you waiting for? Go hug your son!"

"Way to go, Jade!" Peony cheered. "Congrats, man!"

"No, it's okay, I don't need a hug." The boy held up both hands, palms out. "But I told you I was telling the truth!" He approached Jade with his small fists clenched now, vindicated. "I told you my mother wasn't lying!"

"I see that now." Jade tried to pull himself together. "Well, Vilo, it seems I owe you an apology. Actually, I owe you quite a bit more than that, but we'll start with the apology. Will you forgive me for doubting you?" He extended his hand toward his son, and after a moment the boy took it. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't have believed me either. I'll forgive you. So what happens now?"

"Now…" Jade paused. "Well, I suppose we go down to the orphanage, explain the situation to them, and collect your things. Then we'll make a list of everything we need to purchase for you. I don't know much about what boys your age like or need; I'll require your assistance on that."

"You want me to live here?" Vilo looked thunderstruck.

"Of course. You're my son; the test proves it. Where else would you live?"

"Chesadonia. My mother's friends said I could stay with them, but then someone ratted me out to the guards and made me come to the orphanage here. I figured, I'd just meet you or something and tell you about me, and then I'd get to go back home again."

"Out of the question. In my ignorance I've neglected you for eleven years and that will not continue. You'll return to the streets of Chesadonia over my dead body. We're not really so bad here, you know. Saphir hasn't blown anyone up in weeks."

"Oh very humorous, Jade. Buy him some decent clothing while you're out: if he's going to live in my house he's going to look presentable."

"Leave that to me." Peony interjected. "Vilo, do_ not_ let your father pick out your clothing; he has absolutely the worst fashion sense you can imagine, and you'll be laughed all the way out of Grand Chokmah. Leave that part to the expert."

"Fantastic. I'm sure you'll have him smelling like rappigs in no time."

"And you'll have him sending the furniture on a mad rampage."

Vilo was glancing from one man to the other, confused. Jade put a hand on his shoulder.

"Before we leave, however, I believe my first official act as your father will be to order you to clean up the mess you created."

"I'll do it, Jade. There's broken glass everywhere: he'll cut himself. I'm used to cleaning up your messes; I supposed I should become accustomed to cleaning up after your son."

"No, it's okay, Saphir. I want to do it." Vilo shook his head. "Mom always said if I broke something I had to clean it up myself." He tried to sound calm but inside he wanted to scream.

_I didn't want to live here! I just wanted to meet my Dad. He doesn't even want me here; he just feels like he has to let me stay. How did this end up such a mess? I'm a desert brat; Mom always said so. I don't want to live in Grand Chokmah._

_I want to go home._

***************************

"I'm afraid it's not much." Saphir gestured the boy into the small bedroom. "But it's the only spare room we have so you'll have to make do with it. It has its own bathroom through that door, and we can fix it up any way you like. Hopefully you don't have your father's tastes in colors." He sat an armful of packages down on the floor next to the bed.

He watched Jade's son (the thought still filling him with awe) glance around the bedroom, and then frown.

"But…"

"What?"

"Isn't this your room?"

"What? Oh, no, it used to be, but not for a long while now."

"But you said this is the only spare bedroom. Where do you sleep?"

"I sleep in the other bedroom."

"With Jade?"

"Yes, with Jade." He paused. "Does that disturb you? If it does you better get used to it. I'm willing to make quite a few concessions for you, young man, but that certainly is not one of them."

"Saphir, my Mom was a hooker." The boy said patiently, sounding far older than his years. "I think I can handle it. I was just curious."

"Yes, I suppose you can at that." He decided, examining the child again with respect. "You're an interesting fellow, Vilo."

He glanced at the open door. Jade was still outside talking to Peony, and he didn't want him to overhear their conversation.

"Listen to me. You mustn't be upset if Jade doesn't have a lot of time to spend with you for a while. You've arrived at a…difficult time, and he's extremely busy at the moment. I don't want you to think his absence implies indifference."

"Oh, it's okay. My Mom was busy a lot. I won't bother him."

"No, that's not what I mean. You have every right to bother him. You've seen the lights though, at night, and I know you've heard the rumors about Keterburg. Jade is trying to figure out what's going on. Your father is a great man, Vilo. Lots of people depend on his wisdom, including Emperor Peony. Which is good, because Peony has absolutely no wisdom of his own to depend on."

"Why do you hate the Emperor so much? He was really nice to me." Vilo sat down on the edge of the bed. "He bought me a ton of great stuff today."

"That's a long story and someday I'll tell you all the details, but in short when your father and I were growing up together we didn't have any friends but each other; the other children were extremely jealous of us because of our intelligence, and because we were the favorites of our teacher. Then Peony moved to Keterburg and he and Jade became thick as thieves. We were perfectly happy with just the two of us until he came along and interfered."

_He was an ignorant little interloper who didn't know how to mind his own business_.

Vilo stood up and walked over to the window, staring out into the dark yard beyond. The sky above was just starting to dissolve into the now-familiar pulsation of colors. "Do you hate me too?" He asked after a moment. "For…interfering?"

"No, I do not hate you. You're Jade's child; I realized it before we ran the test, before we even left the palace. I've loved your father since I was seven years old; do you really think I wouldn't want to be at least friends with his son?"

"All my friends are back in Chesadonia. I don't know anyone here yet; just the kids at the orphanage and they didn't like me much."

"Well, then you and I need to become friends. I'm a bit deficient in that area myself. It will be nice to have some company here. There was a little girl who used to come around sometimes and keep me company, but she's grown up some and found herself a beau so I hardly ever see her any more. And Jade has appropriated my apprentice to figure out the bottom of this Keterburg disaster. I'm sure you can be of at least some use to me."

"Getting settled alright?" Jade appeared at the doorway. "Does the room meet your needs?"

"Yes sir, it's fine."

Jade raised an eyebrow at the "sir" bit but didn't comment on it. "Good. We've both had a long day, and I think sleep in order all around. We'll talk more in the morning." He reached out and awkwardly squeezed the child's shoulder. "Vilo… just because this was an unexpected surprise doesn't make it an unpleasant one. This is your home now and I want you to be comfortable here. Whatever you need, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Yes sir. Thank you."

"You needn't call me sir. I understand that 'Dad' may be quite a ways away, but my name will be fine for now."

"At least he isn't calling you Mama like Michael does."

"Huh?"

"I have a young nephew who is a bit confused at the moment. That's right; I'll need to write to Nephry immediately and advise her of what's happened, otherwise she'll never forgive me. "

He noticed the boy still looked confused. "Nephry is my sister, your aunt. Her husband Rory is your legal uncle, and Michael is your cousin; he just turned one. They'll all want to meet you as soon as possible. Be warned; my sister has been after me for years to give her a niece or nephew to dote on. She'll spoil you shamelessly."

_He has other family. I never thought about that. It's stupid, but I never thought that he'd have any brothers or sisters or a nephew. There are people out there related to me that I've never even heard of._

"Well, that's for a later time. Do you need anything else tonight?"

"No, si…Jade. I'm fine."

"Goodnight then."

Back in his own room, with the door shut tightly, Jade fell back on the bed.

"You're quite an actor, Jade. Anyone would think you have long-lost children showing up on your doorstep every day."

"I was brilliant, wasn't I? I was afraid at any moment he'd see how close I was to the verge of a heart attack."

Saphir laid down on the bed next to him and reached over, running a hand down his chest in comfort. "How are you really doing?"

"Upset. Not at him, but at myself. At the situation. Perhaps if I'd had some time to get used to the idea, but this is all just so sudden. Saphir, the only thing I know about children is how to frighten them. Now I'm supposed to suddenly know how to raise one? And a troubled one at that? It's not as if he's had a normal childhood up until now. When am I supposed to find the time to correct the damage that's already occurred?"

"Don't ask me. I'm not the one going around impregnating prostitutes. The fact is, you did, and this is the result. You can't simply send him back where he came from. The child has no one but you."

Jade turned his head to the side, and reached up to stroke Saphir's pale hair. "Well, you're certainly handling this better than I would have expected. I thought you'd be livid at the idea of bringing him into our home. At very least, I thought you'd be furious with him for the damage he caused."

"I'd be livid if you didn't. I'd never speak to you again if you turned him away. And as for the damage…well, I won't lie to you. Were I to be given the opportunity to do the same to my own father's house I would be more than happy to take advantage of it."

"Ah, so that's it. I wondered… you do have a lot in common with him now that I think about it."

He pulled Saphir closer. "I hope you realize that having a child in the house is going to…curtail certain activities. It would hardly be appropriate for him to hear us going at it outside his bedroom window." His voice turned serious. " How in the hell am I supposed to do this?"

"We're by far the most intelligent people in this world. I'm confident we'll figure it out."

Jade mentally reached over, grabbed ahold of the "we" in that, and clung as tightly as he could.

***********************

_"Daddy! Daddy, look. I'm tough!"_

_"What are you doing with that sword? Put that down before you hurt yourself, young man!"_

_"Mama…"_

_"Listen to your mother, son. I promise, I'll teach you soon. In a few more years."_

The Radiation Gate was quiet tonight as the old man moved down the ramps into the depths. The monsters were here; he could hear them, smell them, but they left him alone. Animals were uncanny like that; they could sense things humans couldn't. They sensed his age, sensed the wrongness about it, and were smart enough to assume that anyone who sent off an aura like that could definitely take care of himself. It wasn't worth the trouble of accosting him.

He wasn't sure it was even worth the trouble of coming here tonight. He'd found nothing in the Absorption Gate; this wasn't likely to generate any clues either. Still, it was better than doing nothing.

This is my last, he thought now, not comfortable enough in the monsters' tolerance to move his hand from the hilt of his sword. After this, whatever happens, I'm done. I'm going home: I'm going to see my family again.

_"You came… you're really here. You came back."_

_"I wanted to see you one last time. I'm sorry; I didn't realize it had been so long."_

_"No…it's alright. I'm just so glad to see you again before I go."_

_"Son…"_

_"I'm not sad. I've had a long life. I had a wife who loved me, I had some great kids. You've got grandkids and great-grandkids, and even a great-great grandkid. I bet they'd love to meet you."_

_"I'll think about it…I love you. I never stopped loving you."_

_"I know. Will you just sit with me for a while? I want to hear about where you've been…"_

"Not much longer." He spoke out loud, and the monsters hissed around him. "Not much longer now. I've got so many stories to tell you. Just be patient a little while longer. I'll be home soon."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Colonel, there's no doubt at all that your son is extremely bright. However, his lack of formal education up until now is a factor: to be blunt he's barely literate. He can read and write a bit, and has basic math skills, but more on the level of a child of seven or eight at the most. If we were to accept him here, we would have no choice but to place him with the younger students."

"I see." Jade tried not to take his displeasure out on the little man in front of him; it was, after all, hardly the Dean's fault. He was simply the messenger. "What do you recommend?"

"Hire him a private tutor, and test him again a year from now. The good news is that what he does know it seems he's picked up on his own, which indicates an interest in learning and an aptitude for it. He shouldn't have any trouble catching up with the other children his age. However…"

"However?" Jade decided he better hear it all.

"Colonel, the orphanage provided us with his records, of course, and their own observations. In the short time he was there, he was known to be quite aggressive with the other boys, and got into more than a few fights. There was never a scratch on him; the other boys weren't always so lucky. Nothing serious: some black eyes and bloody lips, but the head caretaker Darla is concerned about his temper. It may just be anger in regard to the loss of his mother, but…"

"Thank you. I've seen some signs of that temper myself, and I assure you I intend to take it in hand. I appreciate your time today."

Jade kept his thoughts to himself as he left the building. Vilo was standing near the fence of the school, bouncing little stones off of a tree-trunk. Jade thought about commenting that Vilo and stone-throwing had caused enough trouble lately, but decided better of it.

"They don't want me." The boy flung a rock at the tree harder.

"It isn't that they don't want you. You're simply not ready yet, and that isn't your fault. We're going to hire you a private teacher and you'll be ready soon enough."

"Why can't Saphir just teach me what I need to know?"

"Because Saphir has his own work to do." Jade explained patiently. "In addition to having full responsibility for the house on top of it. It would hardly be fair to assign him yet another task."

"Why can't I just learn Fontech? Why do I have to even bother learning about the other crap?"

"Because that crap, as you so eloquently put it, is part and parcel. Do you really think Saphir could do the things he does without the ability to research, or to do the calculations required to make his inventions work?"

"I guess not."

"Come on, he'll have dinner waiting for us."

They walked along together in silence for a moment.

"I'm more concerned about the fighting." Jade finally spoke up. "Passion is one thing, but you simply can't to around attacking and destroying anything that displeases you. That includes other boys your age."

"They were just jealous of me."

Jade blinked. "Beg pardon?"

"Saphir said that's why you guys never had any friends, because the other kids were jealous of you for being so smart."

"That was Saphir's…interpretation of the situation, and it was incorrect. I had no friends, Vilo, because I went out of my way to frighten the other children. They were afraid I was going to dissect them. Saphir had no friends for the simple reason that he desired no other friends but myself."

_Would I have allowed him other friends if he had wanted them? Probably not. I was quite possessive of my little pet. _

"I understand that you like Saphir; I'm rather fond of him myself. However, I believe he'd be the first to tell you that his life isn't something you should try to emulate. His own passions led to some very poor choices, choices he'll be living with for the rest of life."

"I think it's mean that you don't let him leave the house on his own. It's not like he's going to run off or anything." Vilo kicked a rock in his path. Before them, his shadow and Jade's stretched out absurdly long on the ground.

"That rule is as much for his protection as anything else. Vilo, there are over 600,000 people that live in this city. Of those 600,000, there are more than a few of them who firmly believe that Dist the Reaper should have been executed for his crimes, and would be more than happy to remedy the situation. He may not like it, but even if he were to receive a Royal Pardon tomorrow it still wouldn't be safe for him to venture out alone."

"He could go out with me. I'd protect him."

The feeling in Jade was so unfamiliar, so alien to his very nature, that it took him a while to identify it. When he did, he immediately dismissed it as a mistaken. It wasn't possible.

Surely he wasn't…jealous.

"Maybe when you're an adult, Vilo, but not yet. It's my responsibility to keep you both safe at the moment, no matter much it may irritate you."

Vilo kicked another rock. "I don't need you to keep me safe. I used to hunt out in the desert by myself all the time. I killed rattlesnakes, and big lizards, and even managed to get away from bandits once." He demonstrated like he was slashing something with a dagger. "They figured, hey, a little kid. Let's take his money." He giggled. "Boy, were they surprised. They'd have been more surprised if they'd won, though. I didn't have any money."

Jade's lips twitched. "It seems you've definitely led an exciting life."

"Not really. It's just…Mom was busy a lot, so I had to learn to do stuff on my own."

_And here I thought the big mistakes of my life were in the past. What kind of man am I, that my son was out escaping from bandits in the desert instead of being bored to tears in some classroom somewhere? Can I ever really make it up to him? Does he even want me to?_

Vilo glanced at up at his father. "Are you mad at me? You look kind of mad."

"No." Jade knelt on the path in front of the child. "I'm angry at myself for not being there. I never, ever would have left you and your mother to fend for yourselves if I had known about you."

"Would you have taken me away from her?" His eyes bored into Jade's.

"No. But I would have provided enough support that she could have…retired, so to speak. And I would have arranged proper schooling for you, as well as visits."

"Can I tell you a secret? Saphir didn't want me to tell you, but… I think I should."

"Of course."

"He said… I should be glad you didn't know about me. Because if you had known about me, then he probably would have known about me, and he would have come after me. He said he probably would have taken me, and used me for…lev…level.."

"Leverage?" Jade offered quietly.

"Yeah, that. Or he just would have kept me and tried to raise me himself. He said he never would have been able to pass up such a 'tempting target'. And that he feels bad about that now, but back then, he would definitely have come after me."

"Yes…I think he would have. Our relationship in those days was complicated. You would have been the ultimate prize to him."

"Don't tell him I told you. I don't want him to be mad at me. I really like him. He's one of the coolest people I've ever met."

Again, that sting. Jade shoved it aside impatiently.

"My lips are sealed."

***************************

"I still think it's a waste of time. I'm perfectly capable of teaching the boy myself, and he's bound to learn more from me that some overpriced stranger."

"Be that as it may, I'd like him to have his own tutor; someone who is more used to dealing with young children. Besides, a teacher should be unbiased. You can't seriously expect me to believe you can be objective where he's concerned."

Saphir had been rubbing his damp hair with a towel, and the end of the cloth now covered his face. Jade lifted it up and cupped Saphir's chin in his hand. "I never really saw you as the 'doting uncle' type. Peony, perhaps, but definitely not you. It's really quite touching."

"I am not doting. He's interesting, that's all. He's actually quite a bit like you beneath the surface. He only lets you know what he wants you to know; the rest he keeps to himself."

Before Jade could respond to that, there was a frantic pounding on the bedroom door. "Jade!"

Jade jumped up and unlocked the door, and Vilo rushed in, his eyes wide with terror. "Jade, there's someone outside my window! I thought I was just imagining it or hearing a stray cat or something, but I saw his shadow in my ceiling."

"Stay here. Lock the door behind me."

"Jade…"

"I'll be back in a minute." The spear appeared in Jade's hand, and as he turned away he missed Vilo's awestruck expression.

Saphir locked the door after him, trying not to appear worried in front of the boy.

"Will he be okay? What if it's a burglar?"

"Then it will be a very sorry burglar. Your father is more than a match for some petty thief."

_I hope…_

Outside the house, Jade knelt in the grass outside of Vilo's window, his slippers sinking into the damp grass. There were definitely other footprints here; from the size male, and somehow familiar. It took him a moment to realize the cut of the boot sole was the same as he'd seen in the dust at the bottom of the Absorption Gate.

A warrior, he'd thought at the time. No other footprints but his, so he'd made his way down here alone. No way to know if friend or foe, but he hoped someone that strong would prove to be a friend.

Another unfamiliar feeling rose up within him. Someone had frightened Vilo, perhaps had come here to harm him. The rush of protective rage took him completely by surprise.

"I had a son."

The voice behind him was deep, quiet. Jade turned around slowly, the spear still in his hand. The anger was still so strong within him that it took all of his self control to keep from flinging the spear at the trespasser.

In spite of the moving colors above, the speaker stood draped in shadow. Jade could only make out that he was tall, and the glitter of a sword at his hip.

"He's been gone a long time now." The man continued as if he and Jade were old friends. "I wasn't always good to him. Be good to yours."

"Who are you? What do you want?" He realized that might have had a bigger impact if he wasn't standing his robe and slippers brandishing a spear a a stranger he could barely see.

"To help, if I can." He glanced up at the colors. "It's going to get worse, you know."

"From that, I assume you know what's causing this."

"I have some ideas. Something is out of balance; that's what I know for certain. What's causing it or why I'm still trying to piece together. If you're planning on going to the Radiation Gate next don't bother; there was nothing there of interest. Of course, you'll probably go anyway just to see for yourself that I'm not lying."

"Perhaps you would care to come inside and discuss this in greater detail, Mr…"

"Not tonight. Please apologize to your son for my frightening him. We'll meet again soon."

"You know, the tall, dark, and mysterious bit went out of fashion decades ago. If you're going to come onto my property and scare the wits out of my child, you might at least grant me the pleasure of knowing your name."

"I've gone by quite a few of those over the years."

"Of course you have." He had a better glimpse of the man now. Not a youngster but not old by any case; late twenties, perhaps. His son, if indeed he'd had one, must have died young.

"Kratos." The man said at last.

"Ah, as in the fairy-tale. Excellent choice. And will your friends the three little rappigs be joining you shortly? Or 'The Dozing Maiden'? I hear she's quite a looker."

"Yes, as in the fairy-tale. Kratos will be fine."

"Well, Mr. Kratos, are you sure I can't persuade you to come inside? At the moment, I'm not ashamed to admit we could use any assistance available in getting to the bottom of this mystery."

"Have a good evening, Jade Curtiss."

Kratos turned and walked off into the darkness, leaving Jade to shake his head in baffled amusement.

Back inside the house, he found the door of his bedroom securely locked. "It's fine. Open up."

"How do I know it's really you?" Saphir voice was slightly muffled by the thick wood.

"Because no one else would consider telling Vilo your real name if you don't."

The door immediately opened under his hand.

"What happened? Was anyone there?"

"What's Saphir's real name?"

"Yes, someone was there, but I don't think he meant any harm. Saphir can tell you his name if he chooses."

Briefly he went over his odd encounter with the man who called himself Kratos. "In any case, he seemed sincere in his offer to help, and I don't think we can afford to be picky at this point in time. If he fancies himself to be some kind of fairy-tale hero, well, that's really his business."

Vilo was frowning. "I know that name."

"It's a old story. Supposedly the world was once split in two: Kratos was one of the heroes who reunited it."

"No, I mean, I know the story, but…I knew someone with that name once. When I was little. A long time ago."

"Well, he's gone for the evening. He wanted me to apologize on his behalf for startling you. Go on back to sleep."

Vilo started to ask Jade to make the spear appear again, and then thought better of it. The explanation was probably long and complicated and boring, and would end with Jade telling him that he couldn't learn no matter how much he wanted to.

As he made his way back into his own bed, he kept thinking about the name, Kratos, trying to remember.

_Mom was hurt. She was all dark looking and bloody, and making funny noises. The women were trying to make him leave, but he didn't want to. He just wanted to sit there and hold her hand and make her feel better. Finally everyone just left them alone, and heard someone say they'd "come back and get the boy when it was all over." He heard someone else saying they should at least try and get a 7__th__ fonist to come, and someone answering "For her? Like they'd be bothered."_

_A few minutes later the door opened again, but it wasn't any of the women. It was a man Vilo didn't know, and he sat down on the floor next to them and took his mother's hand gently. He then took Vilo's hand and put it into his mother's._

Then… it was so hard to remember. The man taught him something, a song. Oh, that was when he learned it. That day. He couldn't remember the lyrics any more, but he didn't need them; the song itself was enough. The man, Kratos, taught him a song, and he hummed it, and suddenly Mom was okay. After that, he could do it on his own. He had always wanted to thank Kratos, but the man never came back. His mother had never let him show anyone else what he could do; he'd just healed himself and her when she needed it.

Two years ago, when he was nine, his mother had told him that his gift was going to fade away soon, because all of the 7th fonists were going to become just normal people. But it hadn't, and that scared her. She made him promise not to tell anyone, ever, because they'd take him away and just make him heal people until he passed out.

It was how he always got off the better in fights, though. He could just hum his special song and the bruises went away. The only time it had failed was the day his mother had died. If he'd just come home sooner…

_I was mad at her. She wanted to make me go to school, and I got mad, and left. When I got back she was… I tried… I tried, I sang as loud as I could. I just made up words but it didn't work. I could have saved her if I'd just come back a few minute sooner. _

He grabbed his pillow and clutched it to his chest, trying to choke back a sob.

He felt broken, as broken as his mother had been that day, and no amount of humming in the world could fix it.

_Author's note:For those unfamiliar with "Tales of Symphonia" Kratos is one of the key characters in that game. If you haven't ever played it, do so. It's amazing._


	6. Chapter 6

I still don't own the characters, but I claim visitation rights. Thanks again to those who have commented so far. I'm always very reluctant to ask for feedback, because I'm afraid I'll hear "I won't use this to line my birdcage", but if you like it I'd love to hear from you. : ). I'm trying my best not to make Vilo a Mary Sue, because I'm about as anti-Mary Sue as you can get. If there was a anti-Mary Sue fan club I'd be president and would be going door to door to preach against her evils. I'm still mourning the loss of the fifteen minutes of my life I spent watching "The Last Templar" before I had to either turn it off or throw my remote through the screen screaming "Die, Mary Sue! Die!"

So I debated long and hard over whether or not to make Vilo a 7th Fonist. In the end, I went with it. I couldn't resist giving Jade's son the one thing Jade couldn't have for himself.

**Chapter 6**

"That's an easy one. Kimlasca chooses their king by having all the potential kings go outside and run around naked while the villagers throw eggs at them. The one in the end who has the least eggs on him gets to become king. The others have to clean up the mess."

"That's it. I simply cannot do this any longer."

Saphir winced as the tutor slammed his book closed and began gathering up his papers. "Dr. Neis, please apologize to Colonel Curtiss for me, but I resign. The child is unteachable."

"Just because you don't know how teach him doesn't mean he's an idiot. We happen to think he's brilliant. Maybe Kimlasca should use eggs: they could have avoided being ruled by dunce Ingobert."

"I didn't say he was stupid. However, he's rude, he's unwilling to learn, and I have other students who are. This is a waste of my time."

"Then go!" Vilo stood up, and the wooden kitchen chair fell over behind him. "I don't like you anyway. You hiss when you say the letter S and you smell like feet."

The tutor turned bright red, snatched up the rest of his belongings, and stormed out of the house.

"Vilo, that's the third one this week. Your father is going to be furious." Saphir sighed. "This one came very highly recommend."

"Yeah, by someone with no sense of smell." Vilo was unconcerned. Either they'd find someone else for him or they wouldn't; either way he had his afternoon free. "Can I help you out in the lab now?"

"I shouldn't. After that display I'm very certain Jade would want me to punish you."

"But you won't." Vilo grinned. "You know you won't."

"Oh, of course you're not bothered. It's me he'll take it out on when he gets home. Honestly, you're more trouble than you're worth. We might as well give up on educating you and just… apprentice you to a traveling show or something."

"That? Would be awesome."

Inside the cool basement, Saphir handed the boy a tangle of wires. "Separate those by color. Do you remember what I told you about what the colors mean?

"Black is ground and red is power, right? White is neutral. Green can be ground or neutral so you have to be careful."

"Exactly. What do the color bands on resisters indicate?"

"How much resistance it has. If you know what the colors mean, you know many to use to slow down the electricity and make it do what you want."

"And what's the Golden Rule?"

"All power has to be accounted for somewhere. It either has to be used, or go into a resister, or be stored in a capacitor, or something. It doesn't just disappear." Vilo's fingers moved quickly to untangle the mess.

"Excellent. You're more than capable of learning. You're just being too stubborn about what you choose to learn."

"Yeah, but everyone wants me to learn stuff like history, and that's boring."

"History is not boring, young man. Knowing what's already happened gives us great insight on the future. If our ancestors made mistakes, it wouldn't do to repeat them. For instance, future generations will most certainly be forced to study the God-Generals in school, and while we were a lot of things, I can promise you that we were never boring."

"How did you all get your names?"

"Well, Largo was called 'The Black Lion' because of his size. He was actually a very gentle man, if truth be told. However, the theft of his daughter and suicide of his wife pushed him past the point of caring. Asch the Bloody was actually so-named because of his hair, although he might have claimed otherwise. Arietta the Wild was orphaned as an infant and raised by ligers: when she was found she was mostly animal herself. Beastly child, no pun intended. Sync the Tempest was so named because of his Fonic attacks, and Legretta the Quick could shoot a man dead before he even saw her draw her weapon._ My_ actual name was Dist the Rose, but everyone insisted on calling me 'Reaper' instead."

"I wonder what my name would have been."

"Vilo the Incorrigible. You can't tell me that history won't find us absolutely fascinating. Hand me those wires."

"My father wasn't a God-General, right? But they still called him Jade the Necromancer."

Now they were getting into uncomfortable territory. "Your father's story is his own, Vilo. He'll tell you what he wants you to know of it. But I will tell you this."

Saphir glanced over at the child. "When the history books are written, your father is going to be featured prominently in them; that's a given. I'm sure one or two will mention that he had a child. You have to decide, young man, if you're content with just being a footnote in history, or if you want to be remembered in your own right."

The boy frowned. "You can build just about anything, right?"

"If I have proper motivation. Why?"

"I want you to make me a genius."

"What?"

"Build a machine that can make me a genius."

"Vilo, I'm afraid that is beyond even my ability. Why would you want that? It's not all it's rumored to be, and I speak from experience. You're bright enough."

"No I'm not!" The boy's fingers bit into the wood of the workbench. "You saw him when the other tutors quit. Jade thinks I'm stupid and he doesn't want a stupid kid. He'd like me if I was a genius!"

"Your father cares deeply about you; he hasn't run off screaming into the night, which says quite a bit about it. And no one can make you a genius. You either are one or you are not; it's something that happens before we're even born."

"You could if you wanted to." Saphir watched a spot on the boy's forehead began to throb. "You could make me smart, I know you could! Do it!"

"If you're going to act like a brat, you can get out of my lab."

Vilo snatched a piece of metal off the table and flung it at the wall as hard as he could. Saphir reached to grab it, and then cried out in pain. To Vilo's horror, he could see the sharp edge had slashed across the man's palm, cutting it open almost to the bone.

"Saphir…oh man, I'm sorry… I didn't mean…"

Saphir gritted his teeth, holding his injured hand with the intact one. "Emergency gels…kit behind you. What are you doing?"

Vilo had reached out and taken hold of Saphir's bleeding hand. Staring at the gash, he began humming under his breath; an odd, wordless tune. A feeling of radiant warmth spread across the torn flesh, and before Saphir's eyes the gash mended itself. As the pain faded away, he could have sworn he imagined the entire thing except for the fact that his hands and Vilo's were both still stained red.

He stared up at the child in shock. "Vilo…how? There are no more 7th Fonists. How did you…"

The boy dropped his hand like the flesh at burned him, and began slowly backing away, his eyes filled with horror.

"Vilo? I'm not angry with you. Come on, we need to discuss this. Your father will want to…"

At the mention of Jade, the boy turned on his heel and fled up the steps.

Saphir ran after him, but the child was faster. Vilo darted out the door of the house, leaving it open behind him, and ran through the yard like the demons of hell were at his heels. A second later he was over the property line, where Saphir could not follow, and he could only watch helplessly as the boy vanished into the crowded street.

*****************************

"They found him. The guards are bringing him here now. I've got someone out there tracking down Jade to let him know he can stop overturning rocks."

Saphir sagged in relief. "Where was he?"

"Hiding himself on a Chesedonia-bound freighter. They found him just before they left port."

Saphir moved to stare out the window, and Peony sighed. "It's not your fault. Jade doesn't blame you for any of it. Saphir…I know you're crazy about the kid, but he's really got some issues."

"Don't you think I'm aware of that? If you'd lived his life you'd have issues too. It's nothing we can't remedy."

"Maybe, maybe not." Peony scratched his leg absently. "He's one angry little dude. It's kind of ironic though, if you think about it."

"That Jade's son explodes into temper because he can't become a genius, tilts his hand, and reveals the one quality his father would given anything to possess? Or that you actually understand irony and are able to use the term correctly?"

"First one. Jade would easily have traded his life for the 7th Fonon. Heck, he risked his eyesight to have it. The question is, is the kid really a 7th Fonist? I mean, you guys are the experts in that area but I thought without Lorelei…"

"It was assumed the abilities would all gradually fade away, and that assumption was correct. The only one I know of that still possesses even a hint of the ability is Mysterica Grants, and from what Jade tells me she can't do much more than heal the most minor of scratches. However, the boy was humming something as he healed me; that indicates it was definitely the 7th Fonon he was utilizing."

There was a knock on the door. Peony opened to find one of his guards standing at attention, his hand firmly on Vilo's shoulder. The boy was soaking wet, wrapped in a thick, gray wool blanket. He looked tiny and pathetic. He also looked petrified.

Peony glanced at the guard for explanation. "He tried to run from us, sir, and fell overboard. We had to fish him out of the water."

"Thank you. We'll take it from here."

He ushered the dripping child into the living room. "You okay, kiddo?"

The boy didn't speak, but he glanced at Saphir and took a step backward.

Before Saphir could respond the door opened again and Jade stalked into the room, his eyes fixing on his son.

"I think any discussion should probably wait until Vilo gets into some dry clothing." Peony tried to break the tension. "Saphir's going to skin him alive if he keeps dripping on the floor like that."

"How vulgar. Of course I won't. Roast him over an open fire, perhaps."

"Go change. I'll be there in a minute to speak with you." Jade's voice was eerily calm, and the boy took off down the hallway.

"Maybe you should wait until morning, Jade. Everyone's all wound up right now."

"No. I've delayed this long enough. I've made excuses based on his background and recent loss, but it ends tonight. He's not a toddler that can't understand the consequences of his actions, and he's more than old enough to take some responsibility for himself."

"What about the other issue? The fact that he's a 7th Fonist?"

"We'll discuss that as well. I'm curious why he waited until now to reveal it, but I would like to reiterate to both of you that no one else finds out about it. He's too young for the kind of sensation it would cause: everyone would be demanding his services and he's going to have enough to deal with."

"Jade, he just panicked. He didn't mean to hurt me…"

"Enough. I'm not angry with you, but you've been excusing the inexcusable as well where Vilo is concerned. I'm his father and I'll handle it."

Leaving his friends standing there, feeling far older than his thirty-seven years, Jade knocked on the door of the child's room.

"Come in."

He'd changed into his nightclothes, but Vilo's hair still hung in wet strips on his shoulders. He was huddled on the bed, holding onto his pillow, and his eyes could not meet Jade's.

Jade sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "It seems you and I have a lot to talk about. But first I have to tell you about someone I once knew."

Vilo shrugged.

"There was once a child who was born…wrong. That's the only way to describe it. Everyone knew it, even shortly after his birth. The part in us that controls our compassion, our humanity, was missing in this boy. People were objects to him, something to be used for his own desires. The concept of actually caring for them was beyond his comprehension. Eventually he learned to bypass the missing piece, but not until long after his childhood was irrevocably past.

"His parents were terrified of him. In their fear, they allowed him to do as he pleased, have whatever he desired. Nothing was forbidden him, except for one thing. One thing he was told, bluntly, that he could not have. Could never have. Perversely, it was the one thing he desired more than anything else."

"What?"

"He wanted to be 7th Fonist. Oh, he had no desire to go around singing and healing people, or reading the Score. He wanted it simply because he couldn't have it, and he wasn't used to being told 'no'. The more he was told no, the more he desired it. His teacher, a good-hearted woman, tried for years to get through to him with no success. She paid a price for her compassion."

"What happened?"

"I killed her, Vilo." Jade was staring at the wall. "I tried to use a power I had no right to, something I couldn't control, and in the process I murdered the only real mother I've ever known. It wasn't intentional: the Fonon went out of control and caused a fire, but in the end she did not survive, and I can blame no one for that but myself."

He glanced at his son now, expecting to see disgust. Instead Vilo's expression was understanding.

"You screwed up."

"Yes, I screwed up. As did you. Fortunately, your teacher came out of a good deal better than mine did."

"I didn't mean to hurt him, Jade. I was aiming for the wall."

"I know, but the result was that you did injure him. He loves you, you know. I don't say that lightly: he doesn't love very many people. But when he does, he doesn't hold back."

"Do you?" The boy asked softly.

"Do you think you'd still be here if I didn't? Don't you think I would have shipped you off to school somewhere where I wouldn't have to be bothered with you? Do you think I would have spent the last few hours tearing the city apart trying to find you, interrogating perfect strangers into tears? Did you really think you had to be a genius to earn my affection?"

The boy didn't answer, but seemed to relax slightly.

"Let's talk now about your gift. How long have you been able to use the 7th Fonon?"

"Since I was about five, I guess." He didn't mention that Kratos had taught him the song; that day, barely remembered, still had the feeling of a dream to it and he wanted to keep it for himself. "Mom never let me tell anyone."

"I agree with that decision, and I intend to continue it. And in the last few years, have you noticed any difference at all in your abilities?"

"No. Mom said I would, but I didn't."

"Well, this does present some interesting possibilities. If the trait still works in you, perhaps there's a way to reactivate it in others. I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me experiment on you a bit, would you?"

He winked at Vilo and the child hesitantly smiled back. "If you take me apart, just make sure you put me back together."

"I was actually just planning on studying your blood and fonons, and observing your gift in action. However, I don't think that's anything that can't wait for a while. There's still the issue of your actions today."

"Yeah, I figured as much."

"Since I can't trust you not to run off, I'll have to keep you here for a while the way I do Saphir. I'm having the security system recoded for your Fonon frequency as well. Not permanently: just for a few weeks."

"That's not fair!"

"Shall we make it a month?"

Vilo's mouth snapped shut.

"I'm going to find you another tutor, and should you drive this one away, I will have no choice but to place you in a regular school, and they will have no choice but to place you in with the younger children. This entire process was meant to save you that humiliation but if you can't appreciate it then I won't bother."

"I still think Saphir should teach me."

"You're lucky that Saphir is still speaking to you. In a minute you're going to go apologize to him for your behavior today."

"First…" Jade reached over and ran his hand through the boy's damp, black hair, much to Vilo's surprise. "You and I really are more alike than I first thought. You're not very good at matters of the heart either, are you?"

"It's a mean world. 'Mama's Boys' don't survive very long."

"Your mother taught you that."

"Yeah."

"Perhaps we both need to practice a bit. I think I'd like that hug now."

Vilo paused for a second, considering, and then moved forward, his thin arms encircling Jade's neck. As Jade pulled him close, that strange, overwhelming feeling of protectiveness flooded through him.

_Biological adaptation_, the scientist in his brain was chiming in. _Human beings are designed to be protective of their offspring to ensure they reach adulthood. It's a reflex action._

For one of the few times in his life, Jade advised his logic to go do something very painful to itself.

"I love you, Vilo. I wouldn't trade you for any little genius in the world."

The moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hey, Jade? Vilo? Everything okay in there?"

"Everything is fine, Your Majesty."

"Well, actually not so good on this end. We just got an urgent message from Engeve and we need you. I'm sorry, but it's pretty important."

"Vilo, I'm sorry…"

"Nah, it's okay. I understand. Duty calls."

"Why don't we go see what the fuss is about? Peony has a flare for the overdramatic. I'm sure it's nothing that serious."

Later, Jade devoutly wished for a time machine so that he could go back to himself at that moment, and deliver a much-deserved slap.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:**_

Yep. I still don't own them. And just FYI, I haven't forgotten about Original Recipe Wilbert. He's still out there on his own, trying to learn everything he can before he heads to Keterburg to meet Michael. One day, Nephry is going to get the shock of her life.

**Chapter 7**

"So that's the situation as it stands. So far the blight is small and they're trying to isolate it, but it just sprung up overnight and all of the crops are affected to some degree. If it spreads…" Peony turned his palms upright. He didn't have to elaborate.

Jade closed his eyes for a moment. "If it spreads it will be a disaster."

"Why?" Vilo asked from the new sofa, where he was sitting with Saphir. It had taken some effort on Saphir's part to convince the boy that no, he was not angry with him. Yes, he understood it was an accident. Yes, he was still willing to teach Vilo Fontech. And no, he was most certainly not going to appeal the grounding on Vilo's behalf, and the child had his nerve even asking.

"Engeve is responsible for a large amount of the world's food supplies, Vilo. Their crops are vital."

"Are we going to starve?"

"No, but if I can't stop this…whatever it is…we may be a bit limited in our choices. You and I may have to learn to like rappig. Luckily, if it comes to that I know where to find some nice, fat ones." He grinned at Peony.

"Try it, Jade. Just try it."

"I'll head for Engeve in the morning." Jade sobered, considering something. "Saphir, I'm definitely going to need you on this one. Your Majesty, if I could impose on your hospitality a bit where Vilo is concerned…"

"Of course. I'll be happy to keep him at the palace. We'll have a blast."

"But I want to come too. Jade, let me go with you. Please…"

"You're whining."

"So? I still want to go."

"Oh, let him come along, Jade. It might be good for him to get out of the city for a while." Vilo shot Saphir a grateful look. "Besides, after a few nights at the palace we'll never get the stench out of him."

Peony glared. "You know, I can always decide to housesit for you guys while you're gone. Along with all of my pets. I'm sure Nephry would be very comfortable sleeping in your bed, eating off of those ugly, flowered plates you're so crazy about…"

"Jade, please allow me to kill him. Just once. I'll never ask you for anything again in my life."

Jade ignored them and considered his son's request for a moment. "You may accompany us, Vilo."

He held up his hand as Vilo cheered. "However, this isn't a pleasure trip. Saphir and I will both be working so we won't have a lot of time to spend with you. You may find Engeve extremely dull. But, I'm sure there's at least one person in the city who can put up with tutoring you for a few days, until we can get back home and find someone permanent."

Vilo's expression turned sulky. "Fine, if that's the only way you'll let me go."

Saphir said nothing, but suddenly looked thoughtful.

"We have another issue as well to worry about." Peony continued. "As soon as word of this gets out, people are going to start thinking about the situation in Keterburg. Both cities affected are Malkuth territory. It's only a matter of time…"

"Before the fingers start pointing right toward Kimlasca." Jade finished. "Kimlasca gets supplies from Engeve as well: they're not going to take kindly to being accused of something like this. Have we sent a message to Ingobert and Natalia?"

"Yes. I suspect that Natalia is going to want to come to Engeve herself to observe the situation. That could either be good or bad for us, depending on the local opinion of why it's happening."

"I wouldn't worry about that. She's well-liked there and there shouldn't be any suspicion. Shall I put in a good word for you, Your Majesty?"

"Please." Peony grinned. "Vilo, wait until you see her. She's breath-taking."

"Which would mean more, Vilo, if he didn't feel the same way about all women."

"Not all of them. Just most of them. Just imagine the kids we'd make together. Beautiful, blonde…"

"Likely to get into a saddle backwards and want to know who stole the horse's head…" Saphir muttered. Vilo giggled.

"I told you, I had a little bit too much wine that day."

"Your Majesty, I say this in all seriousness. Princess Natalia would not be a good match for you personally, even if it would be a good move politically. She's far too…"

"Stupid?" Saphir offered. "Scatter-brained? A sharp as a moldy potato? Because in that area I find them extremely compatible."

"I was going to say pure-hearted. She would no doubt require complete fidelity from her husband as well, and I'm not so certain that's something you would ever be able to provide, even if you did come to care about her."

_You loved Nephry with all your heart and still couldn't stop chasing anything in a skirt. That's the real reason she turned you down so many times, you dolt. I still don't think you realize that._

"Ah well, a man can dream. I'll send word to Ruby to expect you tomorrow, and have the Albiore IV waiting. Don't worry: I know you'll figure it out."

_I wish I shared your faith in me, my friend. Keterburg melting, diseased crops in Engeve… what in the hell is going on?_

************************

When Jade awoke in the middle of the night, the first thing that occurred to him was that something was wrong. However, it took him a few minutes to realize what that something was.

He was warm.

His blankets were actually all still on top of him, right where he'd left them. They had not abandoned him for a new owner, as they usually did. A turn of his head showed that the bed was empty at his side. Another glance showed that the bathroom was dark, so his missing lover wasn't in there. Interesting.

He slid out of bed and into his slippers, snagging his bathrobe from the back of chair. Really, Saphir knew better than this, especially after the horrible day they'd all had. How was Jade expected to get any sleep if for once his little pet actually left him in peace to do so?

Yawning, intending to give the other man a piece of his mind for being so inconsiderate, Jade padded down the steps into the basement lab. As he suspected, Saphir was hunched over the desk, his hands flying as he attached wires to something.

"What are you working on?"

The smaller man jumped slightly.

"I didn't mean to startle you." _Although I did enjoy it. _

"I had an idea about how to help Vilo, and I wanted to finish it before we leave in the morning." He stood up so that Jade could see what he'd been doing. A small robot, nearly complete, stood on the table in front of them. The design was all too familiar to Jade.

"I believe he's perfectly capable of swearing on his own." Jade felt the need to point out.

"Oh, sure, bring _that _up again. It so happens when I built Wilbert II, I also built a spare, in case something unfortunate happened to it." _Or Anise got her hands on him. _"Wilbert II was designed to be a teacher for Michael as well as a friend and I still had all the educational data on file. It was simply a matter of modifying the program for Vilo's age and current difficulties, and changing a few other things."

"You want the robot to tutor him?"

"Well, why not? What boy wouldn't want to learn his lessons from a robot? Especially my robot. And an automaton isn't going to be offended into quitting or lose patience with him if needs extra time with something."

Jade said nothing, and Saphir's confidence began to falter. "Well, it's your decision, of course. I just simply thought…mmmphhh."

His words were cut off as Jade grabbed him, pulled him flush against his body, and kissed him so hard he was left gasping for breath.

"I take it you approve, then?" Saphir muttered, dazed, when he could finally speak again.

"It's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant, and he's going to love it."

The man flushed, pleased. "I know he's not mine, but…well, he's the closet thing I'm ever going to have. It's not as if any of _my_ old lovers gave birth to any children."

Although Saphir had hardly been celibate before settling down with Jade, he'd also been consistent in his tastes and had never even considered allowing a woman into his bed. Jade agreed with him that it wasn't very likely there was a Vilo of his own floating around out there somewhere.

"You know, I've been a little jealous where you and Vilo are concerned." Jade finally admitted.

Saphir couldn't have been more surprised if Jade had announced he wanted to marry a Katz. Not only by the fact that Jade actually felt something as human as jealousy, but that he'd actually tell someone.

"Jealous? Why in the world would you be jealous? He's your child."

"Exactly. And I can count on one hand the number of things I have in common with him. Right from the very beginning, the two of you connected. It was you that he wanted to spend all of his time with, and learn from. He was always so nervous around me."

"Don't be foolish. Of course he was more open around me. What did it really matter in the long run if I loved him or not? I wasn't his father; I wasn't anybody. He could be himself without taking any kind of great risk. He has a lot more to lose where you're concerned. Now, if I'm going to complete this before the sun comes up…"

"May I help? I have some ideas of my own for the programming, a few things I think I'd like to add."

"Pull up a chair."

*********************

"He's mine? He's really mine?" Vilo examined the little robot in delight.

"My job is to make sure Master Vilo doesn't end up digging ditches for a living and breaking his father's heart." The robot advised Vilo. "I'm to tell you that I'm not a toy. So Master Vilo better take me seriously, or else." His little metal hands make pinching motions.

"What's your name?"

"Wilbert III. However, Master Vilo may rename me, if he wishes."

"Yeah, that's a mouthful." Vilo cocked his head to the side. "What about Willy?"

"That is acceptable. I am Willy. I will be coming to Engeve with you, Master Vilo. Are you packed? Have you taken your vitamins this morning? Did you brush your teeth?"

"Is he programmed to nag me?" Vilo was suddenly suspicious of his new friend.

"That is affirmative, Master Vilo."

"Within an inch of your life. Think of him as more of a nanny."

"Well…he's still cool. Thank you."

"There is just one thing I want to warn you about." Jade's voice turned serious. "This is not negotiable, Vilo."

The boy looked worried. "What?"

"If he ever flies away with my furniture you won't sit down for a week."

*************************

Jade, Vilo discovered with some disgust, had been absolutely correct.

Engeve was boring.

He wandered down the dirt path now, with Willy tagging along behind him, looking for something to do. Jade and Saphir had been out in the field all morning, taking samples of the black gunk that had suddenly started appearing on the vegetables, and talking in terms that Vilo couldn't even pretend to comprehend.

Engeve, he had found, was also pretty rude.

The villagers had stood at the edge of the field, watching the two scientists work, and discussing the situation to themselves. They assumed they were safe outside the hearing range of Jade, but no one had noticed Vilo standing behind them, and he had heard enough to make his blood boil. Only his promise to his father that he would try and control his temper kept him from taking them all on.

"I don't care what anyone else thinks. This is the Reaper's work, you can bet your life on it. What life we have left."

"Aye. First Keterburg, now here. Grand Chokmah will be next, mark my words. He's destroying it all, a bit at a time. The Emperor is a damn fool for letting him live. He's putting all our lives on the line."

"We have no proof." A young woman interjected. "Colonel Curtiss says…"

"Colonel Curtiss isn't the first man to be ruled by something other than his head, Maude, and he won't be the last. Shameful, but true. Hopefully he'll wake up before it's too late."

At that Vilo had slipped away, unable to listen to another word.

Sure, he knew the whole story. It wasn't like Saphir had ever tried to hide it from him. He'd done some really nasty things and hurt a lot of people, including Jade, but… he was sick. That was the way Vilo thought of it. He'd been so upset that it made him sick for a while in the head. Then he went to live with Jade and got better again. Maybe saying you were sorry didn't fix everything, but it should count for something. Saphir was out here trying to save their lousy crops instead of home happy in his lab. Shouldn't that count for something too?

Saphir understood him, in a way that Jade probably never would. He understood what it was like to be so angry you couldn't think around it until it was too late. Neither one of them had Jade's ability to remain calm through anything; sure, he'd seen Jade get mad but only because he decided he wanted to. Not because he couldn't help it.

"Master Vilo is very quiet." Willy remarked.

"Yeah, Willy, just thinking." He smiled at the little robot.

"Thinking is good. Thinking will make Master Vilo very smart, so he doesn't end up a drunkard."

Vilo giggled. "Thanks."

"Wow. Is that yours?"

Vilo glanced up to see a boy about his own age staring at Willy. He was obviously local; his feet were bare and his lank brown hair looked like it had been cut around a bowl

"Yup. His name is Willy. Say hi, Willy."

"Hello." Willy rolled forward and offered his hand to the other boy. "What is your name?"

"Toby." The boy shook the robot's hand.

"Where did you get him?" Toby was examining Willy. "He's awesome."

"My friend Saphir made him for me. I just got him today. I'm still trying to figure out what all he can do. I'm Vilo. Vilo Curtiss." Vilo paused, realizing it was the first time in his entire life he'd ever had a last name to use when introducing himself to someone.

"Like in Jade Curtiss?"

"Yeah, that's my Dad."

"Oh, you came with him and the freak."

"What did you say?"

"I said you came with him and the Reaper freak."

"Saphir isn't a freak." Stay calm, stay calm. What would Jade do? Jade would stay calm, maybe crack some kind of a joke.

"I say he is. What's he to you, anyway?"

"He's my friend." Vilo tried to control his breathing. "And I'm the one with the cool robot. Besides…" the answer came to him. "My Dad and I are freaks too. He blends in pretty well. I'd let you play with Willy, but if you're going to stand there and insult the guy who made him, then you can kiss my…"

"Master Vilo! You watch your mouth!"

Toby snorted and spit on the ground. "Is your Dad going to fix our crops?"

"Sure. That's why he's here."

"My Dad thinks the Reaper probably did it himself."

"Look, if Saphir wanted to destroy your crops they'd be gone, okay? He could do that. He could build a robot that could stomp your entire village into dust if he wanted to. Besides, he'd tell you if he did it. He'd want the credit."

To Vilo's surprise, Toby laughed. Vilo found himself grinning in response. "You're just jealous because I've got my own God-General."

"Oh good, Master Vilo isn't going to punch the rude boy. Master Jade will be so pleased."

Toby eyed Vilo, who shrugged. "I break a lot of stuff. Like noses."

"Well, don't break mine. I'm sorry I made fun of your friend. Can I play with your robot now?"

"Sure."

_I did it. I didn't hit him. That wasn't so hard._

_I can't wait to tell Dad._

********************

"It's definitely a fungi of some sort, but nothing I've ever seen before. Most of them are specific to certain crops; this one doesn't seem to care what it contaminates. But that isn't my main concern."

Saphir glanced at the data on his screen for a moment as if he expected it to change. It didn't make any sense. He'd ran it three times, and it still didn't change.

"Saphir…"

"It's Fonic-based. It's definitely Fonic based, but not any fonon that I recognize. I know them all on sight, and it's none of them."

"It has to be. Let me see the data."

Saphir thrust the meter into Jade's hands. "Then which one is it?"

Jade frowned. "Some variation or mutation of the 1st, perhaps?"

"I thought of that, given the color, but it's not even close."

He paused for a moment, and then plunged ahead. "Jade, do you remember this theory I had as a child?"

"Which one? You had quite a few of them."

"True. I'm talking about my theory that there was an 8th Fonon."

"I remember something of the subject. Refresh my memory."

"Everything in the universe exists in balance. It has to. For everything a counterpart. Look at the 1st Fonon, Shadow, and the 6th, Rem. If Shadow was to be destroyed, Rem would have no balance and would become too strong."

"Go on." Jade sat down in the field, and Saphir sat cross-legged in front of him. The mid-morning sun beat down on their heads, and the wheat moved around them. The field was almost eerily silent.

"The only one without a balance or counterpart was Lorelei. That always disturbed me. The fact that Lorelei didn't go out of control always indicated to me that there was a balance somewhere, just one we were unaware of."

"Interesting. So with Lorelei's demise…"

"That balance no longer exists. Whomever or whatever the embodiment of the 8th Fonon is, it may be now unchecked."

Jade picked a stalk of wheat from above him and studied the black substance with renewed interest.

"It's just a theory, mind you, but it makes as much sense as anything else we've been able to come up with."

"Agreed. So how do we go about testing your theory?"

"I may have the answer to that." Someone spoke behind them.

Jade glanced up, somehow not surprised to see Kratos standing there.

"I think it's time we had that talk, Jade Curtiss."


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: **_

_Inspired by last week's episode of "Psych" I was very tempted to write this entire chapter in a Jamaican accent, but thought better of it. While Jamaican isn't an option, you can Google "Dialectizer" and translate it into Pig Latin, Elmer Fudd, Cockney, or other various dialects of your choice. (I'm not especially happy with this chapter, if you can't tell. It's a little too dry, but I figure if I'm going to use science to explain something I better at least try to back up my logic instead of just pointing and going "Look! Magic!")_

**PLEASE ALSO NOTE: After some consideration, I have changed the rating on this story to "M". While I personally think it falls more into the "T" area, I don't want to take any chances on it getting deleted for being improperly rated. In order for it to show up on the general list, you will have to select "Rating: All". **

**Chapter 8**

As they walked back toward the inn, Jade could feel the disapproval toward Kratos radiating from Saphir. It wasn't anything Kratos had done, exactly, but Jade sensed that Saphir was just annoyed in general that the other man knew something that they didn't. Especially since it seemed that Kratos had beaten out Saphir to the "8th Fonon" theory.

Kratos seemed unconcerned by Saphir's irritation, but Jade got the impression that the other man was as masterful at hiding his true thoughts as Jade himself had learned to be. A handsome young man, Jade mused, but perhaps older than he looks. Definitely a bit more seasoned than I originally gave him credit for. I wonder what his story is.

"I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you." Kratos said now as they stepped into the cool building. "I was in Daath doing some research, and it proved more difficult to obtain the information than I anticipated. Fortunately, I had assistance."

To Jade's surprise and pleasure, Anise and Florian were waiting for them inside, both rising to their feet as the trio entered. Taller now, and older, the boy's resemblance to Ion was no longer so striking, but it was still enough to cause the older man a flash of heartache. Hopefully this replica's story would have a much happier ending than Ion had been granted.

Or that Luke had received.

"Boy, are we glad to see you guys." Anise jumped right in. "You won't believe what we found out."

"It wasn't easy." Florian motioned them to sit down. "When Daath decides to hide something, it tends to stay hidden. Kratos helped us get into the sealed library. I think I understand what's been happening. Jade, it's not good."

"Our theory…" Jade was interrupted by an angry cough. "Excuse me, Saphir's theory is that this has something do with a hypothetical 8th Fonon."

"It's more than hypothetical, Jade." Kratos interjected. "It's real, and that information was once common knowledge."

"The 8th Fonon was discovered around the same time as the 7th Fonon." Florian began. "The ability to utilize it was actually more common than the ability to use the 7th, but because of the very nature of the 8th, what it could do, there were a lot fewer people who had the trait who were willing to use it."

"Which was?"

"If Lorelei was the embodiment of harmony, this was…disharmony. Chaos. Those who could use it used a form of hyperresonance, but instead of reshaping matter it destroyed it. Or rather, it could be used to destroy it. 8th Fonists could bring instant death, or disease, or…" Florian gestured toward the window. "Famine."

"A lot of people got it mixed up with the 1st Fonon, Shadow, but that wasn't fair. Shadow isn't evil. He's just the other side of Rem." Anise added. "This was something completely different."

"Most people were horrified by the very concept. However, those who did use the 8th Fonon generally fell into two groups: those who used it for their own gain, and those who were utilized by their respective countries as weapons. One 8th Fonist, even a relatively weak one, could bring cripple an enemy army.

"That was the beginning of their downfall. A treaty was signed between the countries of the time banning the use of the 8th Fonon, and those who could had the choice between having their fon-slots sealed or being executed. Those who fled were eventually hunted down and destroyed, and all records of the 8th Fonon were ordered sealed. So in the future, those born with the ability wouldn't know about it; therefore, they could not be tempted to use it."

"Wait…" Jade stopped him. "So there are still people who can use the 8th; they just don't realize it."

"Of course. The knowledge was lost, but not the ability." Kratos confirmed.

"So this current fiasco is the result of a rouge 8th Fonist?"

"I wish it were that simple, Jade." Florian shook his head. "We considered that, but it's more likely this is being caused by the embodiment of the 8th Fonon itself, outside of Lorelei's control. It's intelligent, just like Lorelei was."

"First the lights. We've racked our brains and can't think up any reason for that. So we figure, it's just to make people nervous, jumping at shadows." Anise shrugged. "Then it starts attacking cities, but just Malkuth cities. That makes Malkuth think that Kimlasca is behind it, and…"

"It wants a war." Saphir finished. "The damn thing wants to start a war."

"You said you had a way to test this theory, Kratos." Jade reminded him. "Dare I even ask you intend to do that?"

"Simple, really. If there is no more sentient presence of the 8th Fonon, then an 8th Fonist wouldn't be able to use the ability."

"Wonderful. All we have to do in that case is locate a dormant 8th Fonist. That shouldn't take more than a lifetime or two."

"It won't as long as you think. There was one distinctive trait among the 8th Fonists that, according to the records these children and I located, never varied." Kratos tilted his head to the side, giving Jade a look the other man didn't quite understand.

"Hey!" Anise shot back. "Who are you calling a child?"

Kratos ignored her. "They could use all of the other fonons, and unusually well, with the exception of one. Those who had the ability to use the 8th Fonon were unable to use the 7th. More than that: any effort at all to harness the 7th always ended in disaster. Lorelei, it seems, wanted no part of them."

He watched as Jade considered the implications of that. "Most people probably felt they were better off not knowing." Kratos added almost gently. "The temptation for some would have been far too great."

_God, that kind of power…what would I have done with it as a boy? I would have embraced it with all of my heart, thrilled to have an ability no one else did. Thank all Gods that be or ever were I did not know._

"So I'm to be your test subject then." Jade closed his eyes for a second. "You're certain I have this…trait?"

"No, not completely. You merely fit the criteria. Are you willing to try?"

Before Jade could reply, the door of the inn burst open, and Willy rolled in, dragging a struggling Vilo by the tail of his shirt. "Master Vilo can play with his new friends later. It's time for his lessons now." The robot was scolding. "He should each lunch as well; he's far too thin."

"Come on, Willy. Let go of me, you stupid…" He paused when he saw the crowd in the room. He had no reaction to the two teenagers, but Jade watched his eyes widen as they fell on Kratos. "You. It really was you. You came back."

"You've gotten big, Vilo. It was a long time ago. I'm surprised you remember me." He noticed Jade's frown. "Vilo and I met briefly years ago in Chesedonia."

Something unspoken passed between the two; it seemed that Vilo wanted to say more, but Kratos shook his head slightly, and the boy fell silent. "Who're those guys?" He pointed at Anise and Florian.

"Anise Tatlin, Florian, I'd like you to meet my son, Vilo. Vilo, these are old friends of mine. I'm sure you've heard me mention them."

"Anise? The Great Corrupter?" Willy shot forward and placed himself between a startled Vilo and the girl. "You will not sully this child! You will keep your filthy mouth to yourself!"

Anise glared at Saphir. "You ruined his older brother. How do you expect him to feel?" Saphir informed her, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. "I've programmed this one to be immune."

"Come on, Saphir, that was ages ago. I'm a lot more mature now."

"It was six months ago, and I'll believe that when I see it. Maybe if you bothered to come around more often I'd have some new information to go on."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Are you feeling neglected?" Anise walked over and hugged him. "I promise; I'll come visit soon."

Vilo's eyes narrowed, and Jade was astonished to actually hear a low-pitched growl coming from the child's throat. That vein in his forehead was flashing again; Jade might not have had the boy long, but long enough to know the warning signs. He gave his son a look, and Vilo expression turned sheepish. The vein returned to normal, but he moved slightly closer to Saphir.

"Wow, you really don't look like Jade at all." Anise examined the boy. "I mean, he said you didn't, but I kind of expected something. Are you sure Saphir ran that test right?"

"Yeah, I know we don't look alike. Lucky for me, my Mom was good looking."

"I beg your pardon?" Jade sputtered, as Anise roared with laughter. "Okay, he's definitely yours, Jade."

_He's maturing,. A week ago he would have completely exploded. He's going to be a good man someday._

_I just have to make sure there's a world around for him to grow up in._

***************************

Jade put down the book and rubbed his eyes. "I suppose I'm ready for this. I understand the basic principle behind it, even if I'm still not certain I can utilize it."

_I wish I could tell myself that it's a fonon like any other; no better or worse, just depending on the will of the user. But this? It's evil: there's no way to doll it up and call it anything else. _

Kratos sat a small, potted plant down in front of Jade. "See what you can do."

_What if it goes out of control, like the 7__th__ did? What if what I attempt spreads?_

"I want the rest of you to wait outside." Jade decided. "I'll come get you when it's over."

The inn had been too small for all of them. Ruby had provided them access to a house that was currently vacant, far enough outside the main hub of the village that they could talk and work in private. If it went up in flames, at least it wouldn't take someone's home with it.

"Jade…"

"I will not even begin to attempt this until every one of you is out of this house."

"At least let the robot stay." Saphir tried compromise. "He can alert us if you need help."

"Master Saphir is correct. Willy would be happy to stay and assist Master Jade."

"Yeah. We're not leaving unless you agree to let Willy stay, so there." Vilo folded his arms. "It's not as if I've got any other fathers to fall back on, you know."

"Fine, the robot can stay. The rest of you, out."

He watched the small group reluctantly head outside. Saphir turned back at the last minute and their eyes met. Jade shook his head. "Go. I'll be fine."

_Vilo's wrong. Saphir would look after him, but what could he do? He's still a convicted felon. I don't think Peony would send him back to prison; most likely he'd order them both moved into the palace. That would be a recipe for disaster. Suppose I had better get this right, then. It's rather annoying having so many people depending on you. It really limits your options._

He looked at the small plant. "I apologize in advance for this, but there's really no other choice here for either one of us. Willy?"

"Yes, Master Jade?"

"Go stand by the door. Do not let anyone in. If you see that I become incapacitated go alert the others."

Willy obediently rolled over to the door, and his little metal face looked fierce. Jade had to smile. Saphir had really outdone himself on this one.

The words of the spell he wanted were in Ancient Ispanian, but a dialect that he wasn't very familiar with. He had puzzled over some of the pronunciations for a while before deciding he was ready, but was still a bit unsure if he'd deciphered it correctly.

Focusing on the plant, he cleared his mind of everything but the spell, and let the old words roll off his tongue.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, this time stressing a different syllable in the third word.

The feeling was like nothing he'd ever experienced in his entire life. The closest he could describe it was a form of nausea, but one that affected his entire body. Something built up within him and then poured outward toward the helpless plant. It glowed for a second; a sickly bruised color, and then drooped, its leaves covered in the same black filth that was infecting the crops outside.

Jade's hands locked on the table, shaking so badly he couldn't control them. There was a taste in his mouth that reminded him of everything unpleasant he'd ever eaten, and his knees were weak. Only the dead plant showed any signs that the experiment had worked, but it was enough.

It was more than enough.

Motioning Willy away from the door, he stumbled outside, gulping in the cool night air. He could hear, on the very edge of his mind, the others approaching him and asking what had happened. He forced himself to respond.

"Well, it seems Mr. Kratos was correct in his theory. I appear to be an 8th Fonist. Now if you will all excuse me, I am going to go be very, very sick."

**************************

"What are you doing?"

"Did you follow me?"

"No, I woke up and noticed you were missing. You're not difficult to track."

Vilo stood in the wheat field, the stalks bending and moving around him, and glanced up at Kratos. "You saved my Mom, so I guess it's okay for me to tell you."

"No, you saved your mother that day, Vilo. I just showed you that you had the ability."

"That's what I was trying to do now. I'm a 7th Fonist, so I can heal things. Living things. These plants are living, right? So I thought I could heal them too, and make the blight stop, but it's not working. Maybe because I don't remember the words to the song. Can you teach me again?"

"The words aren't important, Vilo. You could sing any words and get the same result. The melody is what matters." He looked at the sick crops around them. "If you were older, you might actually be able to pull it off, but you're far too young for something like this."

"I just thought…"

"That you could become the Hero of Engeve."

Vilo flushed. He wanted to argue that had nothing to do with it, that he just wanted to help, but he couldn't deny that he'd envisioned the overjoyed looks on the villagers faces when they awoke to find their crops safe. Or that he'd imagined how proud his father and Saphir would be of him for figuring out the answer all on his own. Those thoughts no longer pleased him now; they just seemed selfish.

"It's okay, Vilo. There aren't many boys your age who don't dream of becoming a hero. As you get older, you learn that heroes are usually the last person you expect. A hero is someone who does what needs to be done, even if no one else ever knows about it."

"Who are you, anyway? You just keep showing up."

"Someday, I'll tell you the whole story, but not yet. I get the feeling there's something else you want to ask me."

"How come I can still do this? I mean, the other 7th Fonists can't. Maybe I'm not really a 7th Fonist after all; maybe I'm something else."

"No, you are a 7th. You just use the ability in a different way. Until two years ago, you used it by drawing on Lorelei's power, like anyone else. However, what was Lorelei? You tell me."

"Lorelei was made by all the fonons being shot around in the air by the Planet Storm and mixing up with memory particles. I think."

"More or less. You merely possess the ability to draw those Fonons from the world around you, combine them with the Memory particles in your own body, and use the 7th from internally, not externally."

"But why can I do that and no one else can?"

"There are many others who can, Vilo. You're not the only one. You learned easily because of your youth; it might prove more difficult for others to grasp the concept. You'll have to show them. If I were you, I'd start with Tear Grants. I've sent word to Yulia City and she's on her way here. If you can teach her in time, she may be able to accomplish what you tried tonight."

"But you taught me. Why can't you just go around and teach everyone else?"

"Because I made a promise to myself years ago not to interfere. In this case I had no choice, but too many times in the past I've taken it upon myself to fix problems I had no right to touch."

"So did you interfere with my Mom and me?"

"Someday, I may tell you that too. Come on, let's get you back to bed before your father realizes you're gone."


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N:_

_Why yes, I'm still using them without permission. Sue me; I dare you. You'll end up with a settlement that includes the five dollars in my wallet, a very congested calico kitten, and a fine collection of Junjo Romantica manga (the latter over my dead body!)_

_L__ẽ__tum is Latin (since I don't speak Ancient Ispanian I figure Latin will have to do) and it does mean death, but it also means the personification of death. (And let me tell you, finding ASCII for a tilde lower-case e isn't as easy as it sounds…)_

_**Chapter 9**_

Sleep came to Jade that night in bits and pieces, filled with fragments of dreams and half-formed thoughts.

"_He's evil. You know it as well as I do. Everyone stares at us, whispers about him. We have to send him away. To protect Nephry if for no other reason."_

"_Send him where? All it would do is anger him. Sooner or later he'd find his way back here, and then there really would be hell to pay."_

"_We can't just live like this, wondering when he's going to decide to cut us all apart in our sleep. I can't live like that."_

"_We don't have a choice. All we can do is try to keep him happy, give him whatever he wants. There's nothing else we can do."_

Jade rolled over in his sleep. "Evil. They were right. I was evil. They should have sent me away. They should have drowned me as a pup. Heard my father say so once."

_The wine on his tongue was excellent, the most expensive the tavern had to offer. He had no taste for the inexpensive, be it wine, or clothing._

_Or women._

_She moved to sit next to him, and he could smell her jasmine perfume, not cloying like on some many of her kind but sweet. There were two types of working women, he had found. Those who did so out of desperation and ones who viewed it simply as a business transaction like any other. The former he avoided; he refused to take advantage of the desperate. The latter, well, they usually had potential._

_She was a beauty, this one. Long, thick black hair; kohl-rimmed black eyes, carmel skin. She was a bold one, too. One graceful hand moved over his knee, while the other reached for his drink, helping herself to a sip of the fine wine. Not a child (he would have fled a child) but not past her prime either. Perhaps a year or two younger than himself. The breasts exposed by the top of her low-cut dress were as dusky as the rest of her, showing it was natural and not the result of the hot desert sun. Somehow, he found that incredibly enticing._

_An inn room. The warm, dry air of a Chesedonia night coming in through the open window. The air thick with the smell of her jasmine and his cologne. Other, less-poetic odors mingling with it. At the end, paying her double what she had requested, watching her dress and slip from the room. The feeling of satisfaction, not only from the pleasure of the act but in a business deal negotiated and executed to perfection. _

_Working women had no desire for love, or family, or a commitment he had no desire to provide. Or if they had those desires, they knew how to put them on hold to get the job done. They never asked questions, or if they could see him again, or sulked if he wouldn't kiss them. They understood each other, and he knew he had a reputation of being extremely generous if his requirements were met._

Jade awoke with a start.

_My god, I do remember that night now. Was that Vilo's mother? It had to be; she looked just like him. Why am I finally remembering her now? _

"Jade? Are you feeling better?" The voice at his side was thick with sleep. "Do you need anything?"

"No, love. I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

Saphir moved closer, his arm going over Jade's chest.

_He'd stood by the side of the small house, vomiting so hard he thought he'd lose his innards as well as his dinner, so hard he was afraid he was going to lose consciousness and collapse on the ground._

_Then he was being supported by a thin arm, stronger than it appeared, and a cold cloth was being dabbed across his face. Saphir never flinched; just stood there without speaking and held him until the sickness had passed. Then, he'd half-carried Jade back into the house, shooing everyone else out while he helped his lover change out of his ruined clothing, and assisted him in climbing up the ladder into the loft area of the house._

_Before Jade had fallen asleep for the first time, Saphir had finally broke the silence. "Now don't you dare start thinking something stupid like being able to use the 8__th__ Fonon makes you some kind of monster. You were a budding little monster for years and I never stopped loving you, not even when you used me for your damned experiments. Not even when you had that annoying habit of trying to kill me. If I wanted to be disgusted by you, I'd have plenty of reasons that don't involve the ability to kill houseplants."_

He thought he was asleep again, but he could still feel the feather mattress below him, the warmth of Saphir at his side, the rise and fall of his breathing.

_//I've been waiting. //_

He frowned at the unfamiliar voice. Who had been waiting?

_//I've been waiting for you to wake up. So long now, I've been waiting, watching you. So many with potential, but you were my chosen one. My Jade.//_

He knew then, somehow, who it was that addressed him, and felt his body quiver with rage. I'm not yours. I refuse. I'll have my fon-slots sealed before I ever, ever use your power again.

_//Rebellious child. I'm not offended. You were born of me, for me. You belong to me. You'll come to me; you won't have a choice. I can wait a bit longer. I am L_ẽ_tum.//_

Jade awoke fully.

_L_ẽ_tum? That's Ispanian. It means "death." No, more than that that. It means the living embodiment of death, doesn't it? _

Before he could decide to himself if the last part had just been another dream, or if the wretched thing actually had made contact with him, there was a crash from down below, followed by a furious shout. "Damn him! Damn him! Damn him!"

Saphir was awake immediately, and moving down the ladder, and Jade followed him automatically, both alarmed and somewhat relieved at the opportunity to shove the disturbing dream to the back of his mind for now. Not that the scene below was much less disturbing.

Vilo's face was blood red as he picked up another one of his text books and hurled it at the wall with all of his might. Behind him, Willy was trying his best to restrain the child. "Master Vilo must stop! There will be punishment for this!" Kratos, Anise and Florian were nowhere to be seen: either they'd gotten up early and headed out, or they'd wisely fled.

"Vilo!" Jade stalked forward and grabbed the boy's arms. "Vilo, stop! What is this?"

"He's gone! The bastard left! I woke up and he was gone!"

"Who's gone?"

"Kratos! He left a note on my bed saying he had to go, and he left! I can't do this without him! He knows I can't!" The boy's anger broke and he began to sob loudly. "I can't do this. I don't know how."

"Shhh." Jade's own anger faded as he pulled the child into his arms. Vilo struggled for a moment, and then relaxed. "What can't you do? What does Kratos want you to do?" Saphir had sunk to the floor next to them, and put a hand on Vilo's shoulder.

"He said… I use the 7th Fonon in a different way, and that I should teach Tear how to do it. Because if I can, she can save the crops. But I don't know how. I don't know how I do it. If I can't do it, all the crops are going to die, and it'll be all my fault."

"Okay, take a deep breath, just like I taught you. I know you've been practicing this."

The tension went out of the boy's body further.

"Let's start at the beginning."

"He taught me my song. When I was five. My mother was hurt pretty bad, and everyone thought she was going to die. But then Kratos came to our room, and he showed me how to heal her, with the song. I forgot the words but he said that was okay, because the words didn't matter.

"He said that I…I'm not sure I understand it. I used to use Lorelei, but then I guess I learned how to…make Lorelei inside of me. I can take Fonons and mix them up inside of me and use my own memories and…I don't understand it, but it works. But I don't know how it works. I never even noticed I was doing it different.

"Anyway, he says I'm not special, that a lot of 7th Fonists can do it; they just don't know how. He wants me to teach them. How can I teach someone something I don't even know, Dad?"

He stopped suddenly.

"That's the first time you've called me that." Jade never cried, so it had to be something else making his eyes sting right now. Dust, perhaps.

He pulled Vilo back and looked into his eyes. "Listen to me. Kratos is in the wrong here to put that kind of pressure on a boy your age. When Tear arrives, you'll do your best to show her how to do what you can do, and that's all anyone could ever expect from you. That's all I certainly would expect from you, and you should know by now I'm rather difficult to please."

"But if Tear can't learn…"

"Princess Natalia is headed to Engeve as well and she's also, or was also, a 7th Fonist. Logically speaking, at least one of them should understand the basic idea of what Kratos was saying and put it into practice. If it doesn't work, we're no worse off than we are now."

"I guess not. Sorry. I'm really trying, Jade….Dad. I don't want to screw up any more."

"I know. Honestly, I don't blame you for being angry right now. I'm not overly happy with our friend Kratos myself. However, the method of expressing that anger…"

"I know, no throwing things."

Saphir had been silent the entire time, allowing Jade to handle the situation in the manner he deemed best, but he intended to have a few choice words with Mr. Kratos himself the next time their paths crossed. If he wanted a child to influence he needed to find one of his own: Vilo was theirs.

"Willy." Jade glanced at the little robot, who had been rolling back and forth muttering to himself about groundings and essays on appropriate behavior. "Escort my son to the inn and see that he eats a full breakfast. We'll be along shortly. Don't let him out of your sight."

"Affirmative, Master Jade. He will not escape me."

"I'm not going to run away, I promise."

"I know that, Vilo. But humor me in this. If you find Anise and Florian, stay near them as well. Please."

Without being told, Vilo picked up the slightly battered books and stacked them back on the table, and then obediently followed Willy out the door and in the direction of the inn. Jade watched until they were out of sight.

"What was that all about?"

"It made contact me with, Saphir."

"What did?"

"The aggregate sentience of the 8th Fonon. Apparently my little experiment last night caught his attention and he decided to introduce himself. He calls himself 'Lẽtum'. It seems he's…fond of me. Well, as far as I know I'm the first person in ages to actually use his power. The fact that I'd rather die than use it again didn't seem to concern him overly much."

He sat down on the edge of the bed Florian had used. "If Vilo can succeed in teaching Tear and Natalia how to use the 7th Fonon again, and they manage to undo the damage to the crops…"

"This Lẽtum is going to be furious."

"Exactly. It's already shown how powerful it is, and there's no telling what it might do next. We have to be prepared. Since it seems to have convinced itself I'll willingly serve it one day, it might not wish to offend me by going after you or Vilo, or Nephry's family, but then again it might decide that I'll be of more use without ties."

Saphir sat down next to him. "It seems to me that we have two choices, if I'm understanding the situation correctly. Either we find a way to destroy or incapacitate Lẽtum, or we find a way to build another Lorelei."

Jade held up his hands. "That's pretty much the size of it. Never a dull moment, is there?"

He reached over and took Saphir's hand in between his own. "It said I would come to him, sooner or later." He realized he kept switching between "he" and "it" to describe the creature, and decided it didn't matter. "On that he may be right. I doubt we'll be able to destroy him remotely. If it comes down to it, we might well have to go knocking on his door.

"I'm sending word to Peony to have a fon-slot seal created and sent to us at once. I told the beast I'd have my slots sealed before I used the 8th Fonon again and I meant it. I hope it doesn't come to that; it was extremely annoying, but I refuse to let that thing move into my head and set up housekeeping. It actually had the nerve to say that I belonged to it."

"Well, that's ridiculous. You clearly belong to me."

Jade laughed, noticing that his throat was still raw from last night. "Anise isn't the only one who's been neglecting you lately. I promise, when this is all done I'll make it up to you. We'll leave the boy with Peony or Nephry and go away somewhere together, just the two of us."

"Humm. I intend to hold you to that promise. I'm not so sure I should trust you, though: you 8th Fonists sound a bit shady."

Again he laughed. From anyone else, he would have taken offense at that, but it was Saphir's way of showing him that nothing had changed.

"Oh, more than you know. You've been very good at home, keeping things quiet so Vilo doesn't hear us. When I do take you away, it will be somewhere remote, and private, and I fully intend to make you scream."

The hand in his was damp now, and Saphir's breathing was heavier. He leaned closer and his lips brushed against his lover's ear. "I've missed you screaming my name. By the end of our little vacation you won't be able to speak out loud at all."

"Jade, this really isn't the place to…"

"But right now, I'll have to ask you to keep it down." He got up from the bed, and slid the bolt across the front door before returning.

Saphir's objection to the location (and that Florian probably would not approve of his bed being used for something like this, at least by someone other than himself) was cut off by Jade's urgent kiss, and he found himself pressed back into the mattress with the other man's full weight on top of him. Those long, talented fingers seemed to be everywhere at once, stroking, teasing, and when had he ever been able to resist this? He was only human, after all.

_I wonder if all 8__th__ Fonists are this shameless? _It was the last coherent thought he had for some time to come.

***************************

She hated Engeve.

It wasn't really fair; the city had done nothing to earn her animosity. If she had to be honest and she always tried, it wasn't the city she really hated. It was the memories here.

This was the first place we really started to get to know each other. He was so obnoxious, like a big child, but that's what he was, really. I didn't realize it at the time. He wasn't trying to annoy me; he just didn't understand.

_Neither did I. I'm sorry, Luke. I still miss you…_

"You look sad."

Tear glanced down to see a boy, too well-dressed to be native of this city, standing at her side. Behind him was a small robot that looked vaguely familiar.

"I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought for a moment. It's been a while since I've been back here."

"Are you Tear or Natalia? You're probably one of them."

"I'm sorry. I'm Tear Grants." She offered her hand. "That robot probably means you're Vilo, right?"

"You got me." The boy smiled at her, and she saw the barest glimpse of Jade for a second. "Look, you and I have to talk, Tear. We have a lot of work to do."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Those crops out there? We're going to fix them. Well, you're going to fix them. I'm going to show you how, and you better learn, because if you don't I'll have to try and teach Natalia and Saphir says she's dumb as a dead rat."

"That's…really not a very nice thing to say." Tear felt a bit overwhelmed. "Natalia is a wonderful person. And what do you mean, fix the crops? I don't understand."

"Come with me, Tear." Vilo took her hand and began pulling her toward the field. "See, it's like this. I'm a 7th Fonist, just like you, but in a different way…."


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N:**_

_I still don't own the characters of "Tales". I considered whether or not Saphir's actions are out of character here, but hey, everyone has a wild side. : ) And no, Vilo isn't bipolar: he's just a really mercurial kid. _

_Lots of cookies those who have commented. Chocolate chip, white chocolate, oatmeal raisin, and peanut-butter (guaranteed salmonella free!)_

_**Chapter 10**_

The problem with being the youngest in a large group of people was that everyone tended to talk over you, or think that you couldn't possibly understand what was being said, or that when you did try and interject something intelligent that people would exchange "Oh, he's just adorable" expressions while completely dismissing everything you said.

On the plus side, it made it pretty easy to slip away without being noticed.

Vilo was lying on his back in the grass outside the borrowed house, his hands behind his head, wanting to fume but not able to really find the energy to work up to a really good and satisfying one. A partial one would have to do.

Sure,_ Tear_ got to be the hero…errr..heroine today. Granted, it was Tear who had managed, after a few hours of studying Vilo's technique, to completely remove the blight from the crops. And it was Tear who, after doing so, had fainted dead away in the middle of the tomatoes and had to be carried back into the house by Guy. It was Tear that everyone hovered over, and praised, and thanked.

Well, goody for Tear. If Vilo hadn't been the one who showed her how to do it, she couldn't have done anything more than stare at the fields and look gloomy about it. Sure, his father had praised him for doing a good job, and sure they all seemed grateful, but he'd just been a…what did Saphir call it? A catalyst. Yeah, he'd been nothing but a catalyst.

He didn't even have Willy with him for comfort right now because Guy had begged to borrow him to "study" and Vilo had given in. Truth be told he liked Guy; they'd met before briefly back in Grand Chokmah and he'd always gotten a kind of cool, big-brother vibe from the man. But still, Saphir had taught him enough that he should be able to build his own damn robot by now if he wanted one so all-fire badly.

He was just settling comfortably into his bout of self-pity when the door of the house slammed shut so hard it made him nearly jump out of his skin. Saphir went stalking by, stopped when he saw Vilo, and flopped down on the ground next to him, growling.

"You too, huh?"

"Idiots. Absolute idiots. I've seen pickles with more common sense. I hope Pea-Brain never does convince that so-called princess to marry him, because within a day of taking the throne any offspring of theirs would trade the entire kingdom for magic beans. Not that my opinion counts for anything: I'm not a Fonist, you know. I'm just expected to sit there, and keep my mouth shut, and jump for joy whenever your father commands me to build something."

Vilo dug around in his pocket, pulled out a piece of rock candy Ruby had given him, and offered it to Saphir. The man accepted, biting it in half angrily. "Thank you. Plus, no one understands exactly how awkward it is being expected to work with people you once tried to annihilate. The princess is horrid: if anyone knows how to hold a grudge it's that one. She just keeps giving me this suspicious, beady-eyed stare. It would serve her right if I invent a machine to bring her father's traits to the forefront. Won't _that_ be a fun morning look in the mirror?"

In spite of his own black mood, Vilo giggled at the thought of a horrified Natalia taking in her new-and-improved reflection. "If you decide to, I'll help, but Dad would kill both of us."

"Probably." Saphir sighed. "Sometimes I really do think it's too bad you didn't know me in my glory days. You and I would have had such fun together."

"Yeah." Vilo leaned back on his palms, looking at the sky. It was ugly tonight: rain clouds had gathered and the flashing colors behind them were muted, gray, and somehow diseased looking. "I would have made an awesome God-General."

"Vilo the Wolf. You asked me once what your name would have been. I would have called you Vilo the Wolf."

"Cool. I like that."

They sat for a moment in silence, watching the clouds roll restlessly across the sky. "Saphir?"

"Yes?"

"Do you miss it?"

"Sometimes." He sighed. "I miss the freedom of being able to go where I pleased and do as I wished, without having to always answer to someone else."

"I miss it too. My mother was great, but she didn't care if I just went out and had fun. I used to spend all day playing with my friends, and hunting in the desert, and just…being. No one cared if I couldn't read very well, or that I was eating the right kind of stuff, or if my clothes were clean. Maybe we didn't have a whole lot, but…I didn't mind. I liked my life okay."

"Are you really that unhappy with us?"

"No. Not really. Are you unhappy?"

"No, not unhappy. Just… not always happy. A good deal happier since you arrived." He admitted.

"Guess we can't always be happy, can we?"

"I suppose not. My life didn't exactly turn out as I anticipated."

He glanced over at the boy. "When we were children, your father and I used to sit outside all the time and watch the Northern Lights. I'd always make a wish on shooting stars, and he'd tease me about it. I think throughout this entire thing, I miss the stars most of all. It feels like years since I've seen stars. I think Jade and I took a lot of things for granted before this mess with Lẽtum started."

"What was he like back then? He doesn't like to talk much about it."

"Have you ever been outside during a storm, with lightning flashing all around you? It's beautiful and exciting and terrifying all at the same time. Part of you wants to run screaming for cover before you're blasted to bits, and the other part of you can't bear to go inside because you might miss something. I can't describe it any better than that, but that's what he was like. I doubt you would have liked him much."

As if responding to Saphir's words, the sky above them flickered with electricity, and a few seconds later they heard the angry roll of thunder in the distance.

"Do you think it's going to be okay? I mean, this entire thing with this Lẽtum? Dad's pretty sure he's going to throw a major tantrum on account of us spoiling his fun here."

"On that, I think your father is right. Annoying, isn't it? That's he usually right? I'm not going to promise you anything. All I can say is, we'll certainly do what we can. You did a fine job today, young man. I'm very proud of you."

A fat rain drop hit Vilo in the middle of the forehead, then another.

"We should probably go inside."

"Most likely."

"We're going to get soaked."

"Yup."

The rain fell faster, but neither of them moved, watching it run in rivers down the slope of the dirt path in front of the house.

"Excuse me." Vilo finally got his feet. "There's something I have to do." He had no idea how much in that moment he sounded like Jade, but the impression was short-lived. The boy ran full tilt to the path, threw himself on top of it, and slid down the muddy hill with a whoop of joy.

"Come on, Saphir."

"I will not! The very idea…"

"Come on…" Vilo was laughing, pushing muddy hair back out of his eyes. "I bet you never played in mud in your entire life, right?"

"Of course I haven't. We didn't have mud, at least not back then. We had snow."

"Well, what if you never have another chance? What if Lẽtum turns us all into worms tomorrow or something?"

"Then in that case I shall have plenty of time to roll around in the mud. Get into that house."

"Come get me." The boy taunted. "You want me to go inside? Come get me."

Saphir, rain dripping down his face and over his glasses, marched over to the child, but Vilo quickly ducked away and jumped back. "That the best you can do, old man?"

"When I get my hands on you…"

"Careful. My Dad will get jealous."

Before Saphir could sputter out a response to that, the boy lowered his head and ran forward, knocking Saphir off of his feet and right into the mud.

"Saphir?" Vilo bent down. "Hey, you okay?" The man was lying flat on his back in the rain, not moving. "Aggghh!"

Saphir had reached out, grabbed his ankle, and knocked him off balance so that Vilo landed on the road next to him. They looked over at each other, and burst out laughing.

"What in the world is going on here? What are you two _doing_?"

Saphir's glasses were useless. On his back in the mud, he peered over the top of them to see a wet, blurry vaguely Jade-shaped image glaring down at them.

"It should be perfectly obvious what we're doing." Saphir snapped, and then paused for effect. "We're making mud angels." Next to him, Vilo roared with laughter. The look on his father's face was the most priceless thing he thought he'd ever seen.

"Mud an….get up at once, both of you! Have you lost your minds? Get inside before you both catch a cold!"

Saphir lurched to his feet and helped Vilo up as well. Giving Jade a defiant look, he put his arm around the boy's shoulder, and together they strolled toward the house.

Inside, the small group stared at them in shock.

"Vilo?" Natalia jumped to her feet. "What happened to you? You're a mess! What did you do to him?" She turned on Saphir.

"I did nothing. He started it."

"As if I'd believe that!"

"Ah Saphir, she was just worried about me. It's cute. Thank you, Natalia!" Before the princess could respond, Vilo had thrown his muddy arms around her waist. Natalia let out a blood-curdling scream and tried to pry him loose, but he just clung tighter.

"Vilo!"

The boy finally released Natalia and gave his father a wicked grin. "What?"

Another burst of thunder made them all jump. Jade frowned at the window.

"Well, so much for flying back home tonight. Looks like we're here for another evening. Both of you, go get into dry clothing before I beat you black and blue. Anyone who can swim can head for the Albiore IV and sleep there; the rest of you will have to just make do with what you can find. There are plenty of spare blankets."

Florian, he noticed, kept frowning down at his bed, but said nothing.

"Master Vilo!" Willy rolled forward, making ticking noises of disgust. "Come at once and get into your nightclothes. If you catch pneumonia and die everyone will blame Willy and I'll be turned into a clock."

"I'd never let them do that." Vilo assured the little robot, following him into the washing area. "You'd be a pretty rotten clock. A frying pan, maybe."

**************************************

By midmorning the rain was still going strong, which Jade found incredibly annoying. He had hoped to be back in Grand Chokmah by now, updating Peony on what he had learned and trying to anticipate what Lẽtum's next move might be. Hell, for all he knew this was it, and the damn thing had decided to just drown them all.

Bored sitting around the house, Vilo had begged to be allowed to go outside and play. At first Jade had refused because for all of Willy's skills the little robot wouldn't have survived two minutes in a downpour like this. However, he'd finally relented as long as the boy promised to check in regularly. He'd seen Vilo a few minutes ago go racing down the street barefoot, followed by a pack of Engeve children.

No one knew that the boy had been instrumental in healing the damaged crops, and Jade preferred to keep it like that for now, as much as Vilo would have liked to take the credit. While he'd been able to teach the technique to Tear without too much difficulty, he'd had no luck with Natalia. Being only one of two functional 7th Fonists in the world wasn't that much better than being one, and until there were a steady stream of them again Jade had no intention of letting the cat out of the bag. The child had sulked and pouted about it, but had finally promised not to say anything to his new friends.

Honestly, it was refreshing to actually see him outside and playing like a normal child. He'd tried to encourage that back home; it simply wasn't healthy for the boy to spend every day down in the basement with Saphir. It wasn't healthy for either one of them, actually, but the boy was the bigger concern. He needed people his own age to interact with.

Part of that was his fault. His reputation was admittedly off-putting. He still frightened the wits out a good portion of the children in Grand Chokmah. Part of it was Vilo's fault, because the boy had established his own reputation as a hair-trigger almost immediately. No one wanted to be goaded into a fight with the son of the Necromancer; the consequences might be too frightening to talk about.

Maybe things would be different now.

He could hope anyway.

There was a knock on the front door, and Ruby stepped inside without being asked, her face worried. "Good, you're still here."

"What's wrong?"

"We just got word from St. Binah. They're getting the rain even harder than we are, and they're starting to flood. Some of them are headed this way, but heaven knows what we're supposed to do with them; it's not much better here. I have a feeling your young friend's efforts on our behalf are going to be lost unless she has another miracle up her sleeve."

"Jade, we have to do something." Anise spoke up. "We can't let it just get washed away. Do you think it's Lẽtum?"

_//Not I, Necromancer.//_

Jade paused, and held up a hand for them to be silent.

"Oh? It certainly sounds like something you'd enjoy."

_//I am enjoying it. I'm just not responsible for it. Let's play a game, Necromancer.//_

"Wonderful. I'm rather fond of games."

_//Everything I've done, or will do, you have the resources to stop. You figured out my little riddle in Engeve. You haven't do so well in Keterburg, but that one is tougher. If you can figure out how to make it snow again in Keterburg, I'll give you a reward.//_

"A reward?"

_//I'll give you a clue about how to find me. Because you solved Engeve, I'll tell you a secret. I'm going to play with Sheridan next, three days from now.//_

"And what kind of fun do you have planned for the good people of Sheridan, if I might be so bold as to ask?"

_//If I told you, it would spoil the surprise.//_

There was feeling of something moving through his head, and then out of it, and then silence.

_I wonder if this is how Luke felt all those times, wondering if he was going mad. Maybe that's what's happening here. Maybe there is no __L__ẽtum. Maybe I'm just going insane. Wouldn't that just be the perfect ending to all of this?_

"Jade?" Saphir was touching his arm. "Are you alright? Was it Lẽtum?"

"Oh, yes, he dropped by for a brief chat. No, he's not responsible for the rain, but only because it appears he didn't think of it first." He quickly filled the others in on the unusual conversation. "Seems he's got Sheridan in his sights next, however he seems keen on getting me back to Keterburg as well."

"We should head there next, see if we missed something. We still have a few days before he moves on Sheridan. Should we have them evacuate? I can get word to Noelle." Guy offered.

"Let her know what's going on, but tell her not to panic. There's no sport in destroying it, and right now he's just toying with me. It's not my decision to make anyway; it's theirs. I was planning on going back to Grand Chokmah, but it seems that will have to wait. I'm not inclined to sit around here any longer, however. The Albiore IV can move over land and water, and I want to get to Keterburg as soon as possible.

_What did he mean, I have the ability to bring back the snow? Perhaps he was lying, but I don't think so. He's…testing me. _

_And unfortunately, it seems I have no choice but to play along._


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:**_

_Now we__'__re getting into the realm of the somewhat obscure here. In the game, in the library in Daath, one of the books has a list of the God-Generals. You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and…Cantabile? Who the heck is Cantabile? It seems that there was intended to be another God-General in the game, who was for some reason cut out. From online research, I found out that she was intended to be a swordswoman, and a survivor of Hod, and one site suggested she helped Legretta train Tear. If the game isn__'__t going to provide me with a responsible explanation as to why she never showed up, I__'__ll entertain my own theories. If you__'__re interested in seeing what she was supposed to look like, let me know. I have a link to the website with her picture, but the link won't show up on this site._

**Chapter 11 **

"Before we head to Keterburg, I think we should stop in Daath first." Saphir leaned back against the leather armrest of the Albiore IV's seat, his legs up over the other arm.

Jade shook his head. "Why? We haven't much time."

"I think it's worth our while to make time. This entire situation with your new friend Lẽtum got me thinking about something. Or rather, someone. She's in Daath and she may, if she's willing, be able to shed some light on the subject."

"Is she a scholar?"

"Not exactly." Saphir hedged. "Truth is, we always viewed her as a raving lunatic. Tear knows her."

"I do?" Tear sounded puzzled. "From where?"

"She lived on Hod, and ended up in Yulia City with your brother when everything went to hell."

"You're talking about Cantabile, aren't you? But she's dead."

"Of course she's not dead. Would I be asking you to go to Daath to have a chat with a dead woman?" Saphir was annoyed. "Well, to be fair it's been a few years since I've seen her. She might have died in the interim."

Jade waved that aside. "Who is this Cantabile?"

Saphir smirked, pleased to know something Jade did not. "She was a God-General."

Everyone stared at him.

"But there were only six God-Generals." Natalia felt the need to point out.

"Oh good, you can count. I had wondered. There were never more than six of us at a time. When Cantabile had to be…replaced, we simply moved Arietta into her vacant spot."

"She was Legretta's friend. They trained me together until I was twelve, and then she went to Daath. I never saw her again." Tear remembered. "She was always kind to me, but eccentric. Deeply religious, but she had her own god."

"Cantabile was ten when Daath was destroyed. She was about to die as well when her god, one she never named, spoke in her head and gave her directions on how to get to safety, or so she always said. She followed those directions and was found near Van and his mother in the aftermath. She was a brilliant fighter; one of the best with a swordswomen I'd ever seen. However, her true gifts were her Fonic abilities. She could do things no one else could, although she demonstrated that rarely.

"She wasn't at all shy about her private god, and would stop in the middle of whatever she was doing to chat with him or ask him for advice. That's why most of us thought she was insane."

"So what exactly happened to this Cantabile?" Guy was intrigued.

"Well, in spite of her…tendencies she was actually well-liked. Until, of course, she murdered Ion."

That made them all stare at him again. "The original Ion. Well, I don't know that for a fact. He died of an illness no one recognized or could treat, but she claimed responsibility after he had perished. She was very free with that information: she said that her god had told her to, that Ion was a wicked child that needed to be stricken from the world. Well, he was horrid, I'll give her that." Saphir shrugged. "I certainly didn't miss the little beast, but I was in the minority on that. She would have naturally been put to death for her crimes, but she was judged insane, her slots were sealed, and she was locked away in Daath. This was about four years ago, give or take."

"I never knew." Tear said softly. "I never knew any of this."

"Well, it wasn't as if we were going to put up posters announcing it. We did have a reputation to maintain, you know."

"Of course." Jade nodded. "It wouldn't do to have people thinking you lot were insane."

"Oh, be quiet. You've missed my point entirely. Cantabile might well have been insane. Or, she might well have been an 8th Fonist, and her 'god' is Lẽtum."

"It makes sense." Anise was sitting on the floor of the plane with her legs folded, the ever-present Florian at her side. Jade was beginning to wonder if those two even separated to bathe at this point. Young love was so…all-consuming. Anise never did anything with half a heart, after all. Florian, who was sweet and amiable, and would have done anything for her, simply followed in her wake. It was rather touching, even if he found them a little silly at the moment. "I met her a few times, and she was really out there. She always gave me the creeps."

"You? Our fearless Anise?"

"I was a kid, Jade." She put her hands on her hips and glared. "Even a kid can sense when there's something off about someone."

"Fine, we'll head to Daath and see if we can't get an audience with this Cantabile. I believe it may turn out to be a waste of time. Lẽtum seemed to indicate I was the first in an age to actually utilize his powers."

Vilo had been sitting in the back of the cockpit with Willy, pretending to study but really taking in the conversation around him. "Dad's just jealous." He finally remarked casually. "He wanted to be the only one Lẽtum loves."

"That's not funny."

"He's absolutely right, Vilo. That's not funny." Saphir paused. "It's hilarious."

"I hardly think it's appropriate for you to encourage disrespect toward his father." Natalia couldn't keep silent any longer.

Saphir desperately wanted to retort back "You're hardly an expert on the matter: you killed _yours_!" He then had a brief mental image of the girl running to the back of the ship in hysterics, everyone glaring at him like he was the scum of the world, and Jade hanging him from the helm by his toenails. Perhaps that was a bit harsh, after all. From the way Jade was looking at him, he had the sense his lover knew exactly what he was thinking.

"He doesn't need my encouragement. Vilo is perfectly capable of being disrespectful entirely on his own." He snapped instead. "He's highly gifted, you know."

"It's alright, Natalia." Jade tried to settle the situation. "They're just teasing. They both know the consequences of taking it too far." He gave them a toothy smile. "I tease back, and I'm far more accomplished at it."

"Jade, may I speak with you in private please?" Natalia asked.

"Certainly. If you'll excuse us…"

He led the girl back into the hold of the ship and closed the door behind them. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to overstep my bounds here, and perhaps it's none of my business, but are you sure that…well, it just seems….Vilo is at such an impressionable age, after all…"

"If I've lost my mind?"

Natalia blushed. "I'm sorry…"

"No, it's quite alright. Had anyone told me two years ago that not only would I have a son, but that I would entrust the bulk of his care to a robot _and_ Dist the Runny, I would have probably impaled them on the spot. You're not the first person to question my judgment on the issue and you won't be the last."

Jade tried to think of the best way to explain. With Natalia, as fond as he was of her, it wouldn't do to get overly complicated. "Vilo never met Dist the Reaper. The only one he's ever known is Saphir, and Saphir is the one who immediately befriended him, the one who is taking the time to teach him Fontech, the one who built him his own robot. Vilo is a child: he has a different view of right and wrong than an adult would. He knows that Saphir was a criminal, but in his mind that's ancient history and has no bearing on the present."

She still didn't look convinced. "You loved Asch. You knew the things he'd done in his life, and you made the decision to love him in spite of them. One of the hardest lessons I have ever had to learn is that love is never logical. Besides, I really don't think I could have handled any of this on my own, as much as it pains me to admit that."

"Perhaps you should consider getting married. It might be good for Vilo to have a mother around to keep after him."

Jade coughed. "Natalia… you are aware of my…relationship with Saphir, correct?"

"Of course. He lives with you as your servant. Why?"

With anyone else he would have assumed they were teasing him. How was it possible she didn't know? Everyone knew; people who had no business knowing knew. "We're together, Natalia. We're lovers."

She stared at him. "But…that's not possible."

"I can assure you it is." He was perversely enjoying this, he realized. "It just requires a bit of imagination."

"But you…him…"

"He can actually be very sweet when he chooses to be. In fact, just the other night…"

"Please. I don't…" She looked a little pale. "I'm going to go back out with the others now."

"Excellent idea. I'll join you. We should be almost at Daath by now."

*************************************

Trithem had considered their request for nearly two hours before finally sending word to the inn that he would allow them to interview the imprisoned ex-God General, but he was firm on his conditions. "Only three of you. We don't believe she's a danger to anyone at this point, but it's better not to take chances. She has her good and bad days; if she's having a bad one you won't get two words out of her."

Jade, Saphir, and Natalia followed the young Oracle knight down the twisted, maze-like hallways of the cathedral, up and down staircases and through too many doors to count until they reached the prison area of Daath. Or, as Saphir thought looking around, the dungeon. The walls seeped liquid and there was a general odor of death and decay in air, of thick dust and an underlying stench of unwashed bodies and vomit. The overhead lights only emphasized the bleakness and did nothing to dispel it. Compared to this place, the prison in Grand Chokmah seemed palatial.

The guard finally stopped before a cell-door. "You'll have to speak with her through the bars."

Only Jade's eyes were good enough to make out the small figure huddled on the prison cot, a spill of tangled, greasy black hair falling past her shoulders, her knees drawn up to her chest. She appeared to be rocking herself, and he could hear a faint humming.

"Cantabile?" Tear called out softly. "Is it really you?"

At first there was no response, and then slowly the young woman turned her head in their direction, and Jade felt his breakfast rise up in his throat. The woman's eyelids were scarred and sunken down into her skull, nothing behind them any longer to flesh them out. Her teeth were broken and jagged, and the smell emanating from her was so strong he had to take a step back.

Beside him, Saphir was pale. "She was beautiful." No one heard him but Jade. "This can't possibly be her."

"Mysterica…" The creature spoke, and they all jumped. She climbed off of the cot and walked blindly to the bars, and extended her hand through them. The fingers were almost as jagged as her teeth; obviously broken multiple times over the years, and her nails were long, black, and caked with filth.

Tear seemed to come to at that. Reaching forward, she grabbed the twisted hand in her own. "I'm here, Cantabile."

Cantabile's fingers squeezed hers back. "How old are you now?"

"Eighteen."

"Then it's been four years. I wondered sometimes. I lost count a long time ago."

"What happened to you?" Tear was blinking rapidly.

"He lied to me." She hung her head, the matted hair hanging down over her face. A lank fell into her mouth and she spat it back out. "He lied."

"Who lied?"

"God lied. He lied to me. He told me it would be alright. He said that if I killed the boy, they'd recognize my powers, who and what I was. That I'd have whatever I desired." Her voice cracked. "It was all lies."

"Cantabile." Saphir spoke for the first time. "Do you know me?"

"Dist…" She smiled, and for some reason it just made her more hideous.

"We need to ask you about this god of yours."

"He can't speak to me since they sealed my Fon slots, but he tries. I can feel him. It's like being in a locked room and listening to someone rattle the doorknob. He's here now, listening."

"Is it Lẽtum? Is that your god?"

The woman pulled her hand away from Tear and walked back to her cot, the prison uniform they'd given her hanging from her body. "I called him Father. I asked him what I should call him, and he told me Father. He told me that I was born to him and of him, and that I belonged to him."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Exactly what he told me. 'Father' certainly isn't scoring any points for originality."

"So it is Lẽtum, then." Saphir sighed. "I was hoping I was wrong about this."

"Cantabile." Jade called out, and her head turned again.

"My name is Jade Curtiss. Can you tell me anything else about your god? Where he lives, anything at all?"

She drew her knees up to her chest again and resumed rocking. "He was afraid of Lorelei. He doesn't like the others, but he was afraid of Lorelei. He didn't like 7th Fonists at all. I know why he lied to me, why he betrayed me. I couldn't do what he asked."

"What was that?" Tear asked, not even bothering to hide the fact that she was crying now.

"I couldn't kill you. He wanted me to go back to Yulia City and kill you, and the other 7th Fonists, like I killed Ion. But I couldn't. I could have killed the others, Tear. Not you, never you. I defied him, and he had me punished."

"I have to go now." Tear swallowed. "But I'm going to come back to see you. I'm going to try and find a way to get you out of here."

"No…I don't want to leave. It's nice in here. They don't ask me to do anything."

The odd humming started up again, and something went blank on the woman's face. Jade sensed they'd learned all they could from her, at least today.

"I need to get out of here. Please." Tear was shaking her head. "I need to get out of here right now."

To Jade's surprise, Saphir reached over briefly and touched the girl on the arm. "When this is over, we'll find a way to help her."

"I suppose…she was your friend too, wasn't she?"

"I never thought of her like that, but…she was never unkind to me, and I never wished her any harm. She had unlimited potential. None of this is her fault. Lẽtum did this to her, all of it." His voice broke with anger. "He lied to her and used her, and I swear I'm going to find a way to track him down and make him pay for this."

"Saphir, you made the fon slot seal Largo used on me, didn't you?" Jade asked as they followed the knight back out of the bowels of Daath.

"Naturally."

"Could you make a modified one? One that just seals the 8th Fonon, while leaving the others in tact?"

"I don't see why not. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I'm still trying to make up my mind on that, actually. There's a large part of me that wants to do it at once, to prevent him from ever contacting me again. There's another part of me that feels it's better to keep the lines of communication open in case he does decide to send us his address. What I'd like do to is have you create the seal and hold on to it, using it if it becomes necessary."

"You're thinking he's going to go after your son, aren't you?" Tear glanced over at Jade now, worry making her look older than her years.

"You heard Cantabile. He hates 7th Fonists. I don't know the extent of his abilities; I don't know if he can merely speak to me through the fon slot, or if he might actually be able to control me through it. My thoughts are on the former, because if he could have forced Cantabile to eliminate all of the 7th's I believe he would have done so."

They were almost at the surface. "There's another part of me that almost thinks I should send you both away, Saphir. That I should have you take the boy and vanish, somewhere I don't know about, at least until this all passes over."

"Don't be stupid. You know very well we'd never agree to that, it would just lead to a fight, which you would lose. If you try it, I promise you I will immediately revert to my old self and turn Vilo into my accomplice. Don't think I won't."

In spite of everything going on, of the horror they'd seen down below today, Tear laughed. The reserve she'd always shown around Saphir seemed to vanish. "I have a feeling Vilo would love it."

"Look, about Cantabile. I have it on good authority that Trithem had some strong feelings for her at one time. He never acted on them due to the difference in their ages, but he cared for her. You might want to appeal to him to have her moved someone else, somewhere she can be better cared for. That poor girl isn't a threat to anyone at the moment."

The room underneath them suddenly rocked violently, and Tear fell to the floor. Jade went down on one knee, and Saphir found himself flung into the wall. The tremor stopped as quickly as it started, leaving them all (as well as their young escort) to stare at each other in confirmation that they hadn't imagined the entire thing.

_//I could level it, Necromancer.//_

Jade's head came up.

"I'm sure you could. May I ask the reason for this little display?"

_//A warning. You've seen what happens to my children who displease me.//_

"No dessert?"

The fortress shook again, even more violently this time.

_//Go to Keterburg, Necromancer. We'll speak again there.//_

"Jade…" Saphir pulled himself together. "What's going on?"

"He seems to be a bit put out that we spoke with Cantabile, that's all. This was just to get our attention. I believe we've accomplished all we can here. Come on, if we hurry we can get to Keterburg before Nephry's cook retires for the evening."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N:

_Well…that's odd. Last night I had a dream that I found a present from Jade on my desk at work. It was an orange. It actually had a tag on it that that said From: Jade. So it got me wondering…why an orange? I mean, I like oranges. Maybe Jade is just pleased that I've arranged for him to get laid on a regular basis. Or maybe he's telling me that there aren't enough oranges in this story. Which baffles me because I never knew he was that fond of them. So (much like the "Psych" pineapple) I have decided to give oranges a small cameo from now on, just to keep him happy. Because if he's able to influence my dreams, I want him happy. I don't want to spend every night dreaming that I'm wandering around my old high school in my underwear._

**Chapter 12**

"Really, Nephry, all this fuss isn't necessary. I can assure you that no matter what he may have told you, I do provide adequately for the child. We feed him every few days, rinse him off when he starts to reek, that sort of thing." Jade eyed a stack of packages in the corner, wondering if there was a shop in Keterburg his sister hadn't raided in anticipation of meeting her young nephew. "What else does a boy need?"

"I'd be more convinced." Nephry shot back at her brother "If you bothered to get him a haircut. He's about to trip over those bangs."

"Well, pardon me. I have had other things on my mind lately. In my mind lately, to be blunt. I'm more concerned with keeping his head attached to his body. He's not always cooperative in that regard."

Near the window, Wilbert II and Willy were busy comparing notes on their young charges.

"At least yours is toilet-trained." Wilbert II was complaining. "Simply because I am capable of changing diapers doesn't mean that's what Master Saphir intended for me to be doing."

"Mine is insolent and rebellious, however. Yours isn't strong enough to throw things with enough force to cause damage. Mine threw an orange at me yesterday. It was most distressing."

"You know, Saphir should mass-market those things." Nephry sipped her tea. "I honestly don't know how we'd get by without Wilbert II. Doesn't that sound horrible, that I depend on a robot to nanny my son? But he's marvelous, and Michael is crazy about him."

"I've suggested that to him, but he wasn't interested. He says they would be 'wasted' on other children. Yours and mine fall into a different category with him, apparently. He'd do just about anything Vilo asked of him, and that's somewhat disturbing."

"Well, I think it's sweet. It's good for Vilo to have an adult in his life that he can just relax and have fun with."

"Excuse me, but I happen to be extremely spontaneous and fun-loving. However, someone has to actually parent the boy. If Saphir had his way they'd both be flying all over the city causing mayhem."

"Hey, check this out!" Vilo appeared in the doorway, holding Michael in his arms. "Say it, Michael. Go on."

"Vilo." The baby giggled and patted his cousin on the cheek.

"Isn't that neat? We should get one too."

Jade stared at his son. "That had better be a joke."

"Why? It'd be neat to have a little brother."

"You do realize we are missing a rather crucial ingredient for that recipe…"

"We could use that artificial womb Saphir made."

"We could but we won't." Jade was firm. "Did Saphir put you up to this?"

"No, but I bet he'd think it was a good idea." Vilo grumbled, bouncing Michael a little bit, making the baby laugh again.

"Sulfur!" Michael agreed.

"Yeah, Michael. Let's go find Sulfur." Turning his back on his completely unreasonable parent, the boy left with his cousin in tow.

"Perhaps Master Vilo would like a puppy instead." Willy suggested helpfully.

"Perhaps Willy would enjoy swimming lessons."

"Hey, Jade." Guy poked his head through the door. "I'm back and I found something interesting."

The young man had been out exploring the area around the city most of the day, more for the feeling that someone was actually doing something than for any other reason. He was holding a small monitoring device now, and looked excited.

"There's some kind of weird readings coming from Nebilim's Crag. Under it, actually. I looked around for a way to go deeper and couldn't find one, but there's definitely something going on under there."

"Lẽtum?"

"I don't think so, not directly anyway. It's the 4th Fonon, but the best I can describe is that it seems to be being…sucked in. It's like someone is pulling it all down under ground. There's also a small increase in the 5th Fonon, which would explain the melting snow. Not as much as I expected, but some. I've never seen anything like this."

"Well, I suppose we should go check it out in more detail then."

"Take Saphir." Nephry urged. "Please. I'm not up to babysitting him again; he nearly wore out my floor last time, and he already feels unappreciated. Besides, his theory about this Cantabile appears to have been right on the money. He's always seen things the rest of us miss."

Jade hesitated, and then nodded. "I suppose that's not a bad idea. I have a feeling he'll just follow us anyway if we try and go without him. I wish he had some way of defending himself, but there's no help for it."

_I'd feel better if none of you went along. It's me Lẽtum has taken such a delight in, after all. Still, I can't do this alone, as much as I could wish it otherwise. _

He found Saphir, Vilo and Michael in Michael's bedroom. The baby was stumbling around on his newly-useful legs, going back and forth between the boy and the man as they cheered him on.

_I hope Vilo doesn't bring up his desire for a sibling in front of Saphir. I really can't handle both of them nagging me about the issue. An infant is the last thing we need. I got lucky once, it seems. I never would have willingly created a child; I've always been afraid of exactly what kind of offspring I'd produce. Vilo actually turned out to be human; I might not be so fortunate the next time. Especially now with this 8th Fonist business going on; a little me, as I was then, with the ability to curse anyone he doesn't like with a painful death? Compared to that, Vilo's short fuse seems almost laughable. _

Besides, he thought watching them now, he felt vulnerable enough where they were concerned. He really had no desire to tear his heart into yet another piece and leave it to fend for itself.

"Mama!" Michael had spotted him and went toddling over, and Jade picked him up with a sigh of resignation.

"No, Michael." Vilo stood up. "Not Mama. Uncle Jade. Can you say Jade?"

"Dade?" Michael tilted his head at his uncle.

"No, Jade."

"Jaaade."

"Well, I'll be. You fixed him. Excellent. I was starting to get a complex."

"He likes me." Vilo reached over and took Michael's hand. "Don't you, Michael?"

Jade handed the baby back to his cousin, and explained to Saphir what Guy had noted in Nebilim's Crag. "I want you along on this."

"Of course you do. Took you long enough to realize it."

"I want to go too." Vilo chimed in.

"That is not even worth considering."

"But Dad, I'm a 7th Fonist. I'm just as good as Tear, and I bet you're taking her along."

"You are not as good as Tear. She can use more than the 7th Fonon, for one thing. You don't have those abilities. In addition, Tear is seven years older than you are and a highly seasoned fighter."

"So am I."

"You're a child."

"Anise was only two years older than I am now, and you always took _her _along."

Jade tried to control his temper. "Her parents didn't happen to object to her putting her life in danger. You happen to have one that objects very strongly to the thought. Anise is also a highly skilled Fonist, with offensive as well as defensive skills."

Vilo automatically looked at Saphir for back-up, but the other man was nodding his head. "I agree, Vilo. There's no telling what's down there, and you're better off staying here where it's safe."

"You're supposed to be my friend, Saphir."

"I am your friend, stupid. That's why I don't approve of you putting yourself in jeopardy."

"I lived my whole life in jeopardy." Vilo's voice was calm, but his eyes were flashing. "You know what kind of people I lived near? You know how many friends I had that just…vanished? Wanna guess what happened to them? They almost got me too, but I got away. I always got away. You think anything in Nebilim's Crag is going to be worse than that?"

"The fact that you lived like that sickens me. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself. Heaven knows you remind me of that enough." Jade ground out the words through clenched teeth. "But it took me eleven years to find out about you, and I will not risk losing you now."

"But it's okay for me to risk losing you? I told you before, I don't have anyone else."

In his arms, Michael began to fuss. "It's okay, Michael. I'm not mad at you." He jostled the baby. "Don't cry."

"Alright Vilo, let's try this. This area is thick with creatures called wendigos. If you were to meet one, how would you take it down?"

"If it's really big, then I can probably move a lot faster. I'd run up and stab it."

"Interesting theory. It might work too if the wendigo didn't happen to have an extremely thick coat of hair, an even thicker hide, and a layer of fat underneath all of that. It takes almost brute-force strength to stab one; your dagger would bounce right off of it. You might, if you're lucky, draw some blood, but I think you'd only serve to irritate it."

"So I could just stay in the back and heal the rest of you when you need it."

"What if we're attacked from behind? We depend on our healers to be able to get themselves out of sticky situations. We're taking Saphir against my better judgment: more than half of my mind is going to be focused on protecting him. I'm not going to have anything left over to worry about protecting you as well. In addition to not putting you in danger, I am not about to put what we're trying to accomplish in jeopardy either just to satisfy your bruised ego."

Jade braced, waiting for the explosion to come, but to his surprise Vilo stayed calm.

"Someday, I'll be able to fight next to you." The boy finally said. "If I can't use other Fonons I'll build machines like Saphir used to. You won't always be able to leave me behind."

"Actually, after this entire thing is done I intend to take an early retirement. I'm resigning my commission."

"What?" Saphir was shocked. "Jade…"

"I've thought about it, and I'm getting far too old for this sort of thing. I've got other priorities now. As Vilo pointed out, I am his only father. I can't simply go running off into danger whenever it suits me."

"You'll be bored to tears in a week." Saphir smiled at him. "And worse, you'll be wandering around the house looking for something to do, getting in my way, and picking on me just to amuse yourself."

"If you're trying to talk me out of this decision, it's backfiring. That sounds highly enjoyable."

"Dad, I don't want you to give up something you like just for me."

"I'm not, actually. I was thinking about it before you even showed up to dismantle my home. This just seems to be as good of a time as any."

"Great. You can figure out how to give me that…"

"No."

"That what?" Saphir asked suspiciously.

"Never you mind."

*****************************

To no one's surprise, it only Saphir a few moments to locate the hidden release for the floor beneath Nebilim's Crag. He graciously allowed them to precede him down the stone stairwell, staying close to Jade's side.

In the lantern light, the shadows moved and danced around them, and Jade felt a rare burst of claustrophobia. It reminded him too much of Ortion. It was also hot down here; he was soaked in sweat within minutes, and desperately wanted a shower.

As they had anticipated, the hidden grotto was a den for various monsters. However, given the natural darkness of the area a good many of them were either blind or eyeless altogether. In one sense, it made them easier to dispatch. On another, it reminded Jade uncomfortably of Cantabile.

Saphir had proved so far fairly agile at staying out of the way, and had twice saved them from possible injury by spotting several well-hidden trap-levers. He seemed, oddly enough, to be enjoying himself, and was taking advantage of the silence to quiz Guy about various Fontech issues.

He also seemed to be enjoying the fact that Natalia kept shooting him odd looks and staying as far away from him as possible. Jade had filled him in on their conversation, and it was all he could do to restrain himself from further educating her on certain matters.

A man needed a little fun, after all.

The long passageway finally ended in a cavernous antechamber that was almost unbearably warm. The lantern showed the floor pitted by two matched craters. As they moved forward, suddenly the air was split by a wail. "Help her. Please…"

"Help who?" Tear ran to the pit. "Who…it's Ifrit."

"Release me. Release me before it's too late. Save her."

He was living brightness in the pit, so much that it burned her eyes, but the voice was all too human. "Celsius. My Celsius. He's killing her."

The 4th Fonon was unique in that those who could use it had two entities to draw from. For simple water spells Undine lent her powers. For the more difficult Artes involving freezing, Celsius was utilized.

"He imprisoned us together like this. We're too close: I'm more powerful than she is…I'm destroying her. Undine…trying to help. She's feeding her from her own energy, otherwise she'd be gone by now."

Jade peered into the second pit, at the pale, limp form lying on the bottom in a crumpled heap. "What do you need us to do?"

"Unchain me. She can't leave as long as I'm here."

Saphir had moved next to Tear. "Just one problem. How are we supposed to get close enough to do that?" Jade joined them.

"I'll ask Undine for help. She'll cool me long enough for you to undo my bonds. She won't be able to do it for long. You'll have to hurry."

Jade nodded, but Saphir put a hand on his arm. "Let me do it. You never were very good at picking a lock."

The man hesitated, and then nodded reluctantly. Below them, Ifrit cried out in pain, and the heat from the pit faded. "Now. Go."

Saphir lowed himself into the pit and darted over to the first of the chains binding Ifrit to the bottom. His fingers moved quickly over the lock, and it fell to onto the floor A moment later, the other lock joined it.

There was a rush of heat that nearly seared his lungs, and a fiery ball shot out of the pit straight toward the ceiling of the cavern. It seemed to dissolve when it reached the top into a thousand tiny flames, which passed easily through the stone.

"You could have at least said thank you!" Saphir yelled after it.

"Are you alright?" Jade called down at him.

"A bit singed, but otherwise in tact. Get me out of here."

Jade leaned over and extended his hand, pulling his lover out of the pit. The others had surrounded the second pit. "Well done."

"Told you you needed me." Saphir was smug.

"Never doubted it."

There was a rush, this time of cold, and Celsius rose slowly from the depths. "He's gone…"

"Will you be alright now?" Anise asked. "He was really worried about you."

"I'll recover, in time." The voice was like ice cracking, and it was sad. So sad Anise wanted to sink to her knees and begin sobbing. "As long as he stays away. He came to see me. He knew…he knew the dangers. Lẽtum trapped him here…"

The cavern was growing colder by the minute. "I suggest we return to the surface. There's nothing left here for us to do."

"But there has to be something we can do for them, Jade." Anise protested. "He loves her. Isn't there a way…"

"There is no way." Celsius shook her head. "By our very nature we destroy each other. He knows. He usually accepts. Sometimes he forgets… go. I'll use my abilities to return you to the surface."

Next to her, Anise felt Florian's hand enclose hers. "Come on. She's right."

A circle appeared around the small group, and Anise had only one last glimpse of the spirit as she stared up to the ceiling where Ifrit had vanished. Of a single, frozen tear falling from her eye, and shattering against the stone floor into diamond shards.


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N:_

_Okay, this is getting odder. Not only is Jade still trying to communicate something to me in my dreams, but apparently Vilo is as well. Last night, there were no oranges. However, the basic gist of it was that Jade wanted Vilo to go away to summer camp and Vilo was being a total brat about the entire thing and refusing. As much as I'd like to keep Jade happy, I simply can't figure out a way to work Vilo going off some "Camp Lake Malkuth" into the story. Plus, I suspect he's pretty crappy at making lanyards. _

_This chapter is actually more of an interlude. I'll get back to the action soon, but for right now they just needed some down-time._

**Chapter 13**

There was a definite chill in the air when they reached the village.

"Think it'll snow tonight?" Florian looked up at the sky hopefully.

"Perhaps. It depends on how long it takes Celsius to get back to her old self." Jade rotated his neck, suddenly exhausted. "We'll meet up again in the morning and discuss our next move."

It must have been a trick of light, but for just a moment they suddenly looked different to him. Older, more mature. Guy, the eldest, was all of twenty-three. Natalia was twenty, Tear eighteen, Anise fifteen, and Florian was either sixteen, biologically, or two chronologically. All of them barely out of the cradle but for the first time he actually felt in the company of adults and not children.

_I'm getting far too maudlin in my old age. Of course they're growing up. All little things grow up sooner or later. If they're given the chance._

He and Saphir walked back through the twilight toward Nephry's house. Unlike back home, the citizens of Keterburg actually smiled and nodded when they saw Dr. Neis. No matter what he'd done, he was still one of them. All crimes could be overlooked in the name of pride. He might have been a twisted genius, but by the heavens he was their twisted genius. No wonder he loves coming here so much, Jade thought. It's one of the few places in the world where they don't want burn him at the stake.

"Any word from Lẽtum?"

"Not a peep out of him. He's probably busy with his usual daily tasks: frightening small children and elderly women, leveling small countries, that sort of thing."

"Like father like son." Saphir grinned over at him, and Jade smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

"I still have the legal right to punish you in any way I deem fit."

"You and your false promises."

They were still pretending to bicker as they entered the mansion.

"I was going to treat you to some of that Keterburg chocolate you're so insane about, but now I think I'll keep it all for myself."

"You hate chocolate."

"I'll make the effort. I'll eat every bit of it right in front of you." He leaned close and whispered in Saphir's ear "Or…off of you." The shiver that went through Saphir at that had nothing to do with the cold.

Nephry was waiting for them in the living room. "Is everyone alright?"

"Fine. Saphir is a little toasty, but the town probably won't be for much longer." He quickly filled his sister in on what they'd found below Nebilim's Crag. "Rather heartbreaking, isn't it?"

"Poor things. There's nothing that can be done for them?"

"If they haven't figured out a way to overcome their rather insurmountable odds after all these millennia I would assume the answer to that is no. They can either live apart or destroy each other together, but it's not as if they simply disagree on what kind of wallpaper to use in the living room."

"I have some news of my own for you." She handed him a letter. "It was addressed to both of us so I hope you don't mind that I read it already."

The letter was brief and to the point, unusual for Peony, but given the subject matter he might have not have felt it appropriate to over-elaborate. Jade absorbed the information without comment, and passed it along to Saphir.

"Does Vilo know yet?" Saphir asked when he was finished.

"Not yet. I thought Jade should be the one to tell him. He's down in the guest room."

"Thank you, Nephry."

Jade found the boy curled up on the bed, and to his father's shock actually reading. Granted, it was a book purchased for Michael, but the fact that Vilo was voluntarily reading anything at all was a positive sign.

"Hey, you're back. How did it go?" He shoved the book aside.

"It went very well, and I'll tell you the entire story in a few minutes, but we have something else to discuss first."

"I wasn't trying to sneak out after you, I swear. Aunt Nephry completely misunderstood the whole thing…"

Jade held up his hand to silence the boy. "Peony received a letter from Astor in Chesedonia. Vilo, they caught the man who murdered your mother. His latest victim managed to get away and he was arrested. He's confessed to everything."

Vilo's face registered disbelief for a moment, and he stared at the wall. Jade watched the boy's fingers tighten into a fist. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Since he's admitted everything there won't be a trial. It's more than likely he'll be sentenced to death."

"I want to be there."

"Vilo..."

"I want to watch them kill him. I want them to cut him up, just like he did Mom. I want to hear him scream. When he dies, I want to be standing over him laughing." The boy was shaking.

"If that's what you want, it can be arranged."

Vilo looked up at his father in surprise. "You're her only next-of-kin. You have every right to be there, and if that's really what you want I won't stop you. I don't think it's going to be the catharsis you're expecting it to be, though. Astor says he's shown no remorse for his crimes; he's proud of what he's done, and he's likely to be proud until the very end."

"Why? Why did he do it? Did he say why?"

"The same reason men like him always go after women like your mother. They're drawn to them, and they're ashamed of that attraction, so rather than hating themselves they blame their victims."

"How many others did he kill?"

"Four in total. It was the fifth one who escaped him. Your mother was the second."

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Vilo's fingers twisted the edge of the blanket. Although there was little else in him to reflect his parentage, his hands were unmistakably and clearly Jade's. So much so that Jade wondered now how he'd overlooked it when he first met the boy. He was there; subtle, perhaps, but there.

"Certainly."

"Do you hate my mother?"

Jade paused for a moment, trying to formulate an answer, and knowing that Vilo would see through any lie. "Can we have this conversation without you flying off the handle?"

"Yeah. I need to know."

"A little bit, yes. I'm not proud of that, but it's the truth. I understand her motivations in keeping you away from me, but that doesn't mean I can forgive it. She assumed she knew how I would respond and acted accordingly. There's no doubt in my mind that she loved you, but I can't help thinking that she didn't love you enough. If she had, she would have put her pride aside and asked for my help in order to give you a better life. She loved you enough to keep you, which many in her situation would not have done, but not enough to make sure you had a chance of having a better future for yourself. Every time my sister writes to me about a new milestone with Michael, my first thought is that I'll never have that with you, and it infuriates me."

Vilo said nothing, and Jade went on. "It also angers me that she was so…lax about your lifestyle. She allowed you to do exactly as you pleased, to grow up, if you'll pardon me for being blunt, into an ignorant little savage. I resent that by trying to civilize you, I'm the one who has to take the role of the villain. So yes, part of me will always hate her; there's nothing I can do about that. But I never would have wished any harm to befall her."

"I told her I hated her." Vilo's voice was nearly a whisper. "That last day…she told me I had to go away to school. She'd been…saving up money for it. She was so happy, and I yelled at her. I said she was…just trying to get rid of me…and that she hated me, so I…hated her too and I never…I never wanted to see her again…I ran off."

"Oh, Vilo…"

"After I was done being mad, I went home…figured I could talk her out of sending me away…but she was already…" He began to shake with sobs, and Jade pulled him close. "I should have been there."

"Then you might be dead too, and I'm positive she wouldn't have wanted that. I'm sorry if I hurt you with the things I said about her. I didn't know the last bit."

"No, it's okay." He pulled away so that he could look up at his father. "You told me the truth. You always tell me the truth, even if it's hard. I like that. Can I ask you for a really big favor? You can say no."

"What do you want me to do?"

"They buried her in the ratty area, away from all the good people. I figured I'd save up enough money and have her moved someplace pretty. Can you pay for it now, and I'll pay you back when I get big enough to get a job?" He stopped Jade from responding at first. "And don't just say you'll pay for all of it, cause I know that's what you're going to say and I don't want that. I want to do that for her myself, but I just can't right now. So if you do it, you have to let me pay you back."

"If it means that much to you, then I'll make the arrangements to have it done immediately."

Vilo nodded, relieved. "I…um…I'm really glad it was you. There were a lot of guys it could have been, I guess. She was pretty popular, but…I'm glad it ended up being you."

That darn dust again.

"I'm glad too."

"So what happened in Nebilim's Crag? Were there a lot of monsters?"

"There were monsters, and some traps, and your friend Saphir ended up being the man of the hour."

"Tell me everything."

Jade paused. "Is there anything you want to tell me first? Something about Nephry's…misunderstanding something?"

"Women are always misunderstanding things."

"I see. Well, we got to the Crag and almost right away…"

**************************

_//You should have told him the bitch got what she deserved.//_

"I wondered when you were going to show up."

_//The snow has just started. I told you I would give you a present if you caused the snow to return. Why didn't you tell the boy she got what she deserved?//_

"No one deserves what happened to her."

_//She stole your child from you. You told the boy you hate her.//_

"Frankly, that's between my son and I, and none of your business. Now, about that information…"

_//Maybe I shouldn't tell you. Our agreement was that you were to solve my riddle. It was Guy who found the Fonon discrepancy. It was your 'pet' that found the way into the bottom of the cavern and freed Ifrit. You did nothing, Necromancer, but go along for the ride.//_

"Someone has to supervise. They're all extremely unreliable on their own. I rather enjoy being the glue that holds it all together."

_//Do you really want to find me?//_

"I never go anywhere uninvited."

_//Send the boy away.//_

"Beg pardon?"

_//Send the boy away, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know.//_

"I'd rather not. I'm not cruel enough inflict him on anyone else."

_//Then I'll tell you nothing. Perhaps if you have luck at Sheridan, I'll change my mind. You defy me at your own risk, Necromancer.//_

"You can't touch him, can you? That's why you used Cantabile to go after the 7th Fonists. Even with Lorelei gone, they're still protected from you.

"What? No response to that?"

_//I have such plans for us, you and I.//_

"Plans are fickle things. I won't depend too heavily on them."

"Jade, as amusing as this one-sided conversation is to listen to, can you please keep it down a bit? I'm trying to sleep here."

In the huge bed, Jade glanced over at Saphir, whom was glaring at him in the semi-darkness. "Sorry, he's feeling a little chatty tonight."

_//You could have your pick of beautiful women. Why do you waste your time?//_

"Saphir, my apologies, but he seems to feel that I should upgrade you to a beautiful woman. Would you object terribly to that?"

Saphir's response was extremely detailed and colorful, including several helpful suggestions as to what Jade and Lẽtum could do to themselves. Jade winced.

"Well, it appears Grand Chokmah Penitentiary has a no-return policy. I believe I'm stuck with him."

_//No matter. Once you accept your place in things he'll no longer be important.//_

"If you're not going to tell me anything useful I'm going back to sleep."

_//I'll speak to you again in Sheridan, Necromancer.// _

Once again that feeling of something dirty being cleansed. Jade relaxed back on the bed.

"He's decided he'd like to play a little longer. Seems we're headed to Sheridan next instead of to his home for dinner. Oh well, Vilo will enjoy it in any case."

Saphir snuggled closer, pressed a kiss into Jade's shoulder. "You better have been kidding about that beautiful woman business."

"To quote a very wise young man of my acquaintance, 'women are always misunderstanding things.'"

"Do you really think Vilo is safe from him?"

"Directly, yes. Indirectly, he's still vulnerable to war, famine, flood, and all the other things Lẽtum seems to enjoy. However, as Vilo has pointed out to me he's rather good at landing on his feet."

Saphir was silent for a moment, and Jade thought he'd fallen back asleep. When he spoke again, it was nearly a whisper. "A beautiful woman could give you more children."

"A homely one could as well."

"I'm trying to be serious here."

"As am I. I don't want any more children. I'm perfectly happy with the one I have. I'm also perfectly happy with the mate I have."

He moved so that he was above Saphir, his arms extended and supporting him so that he could look down. "Do you really need more convincing?"

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Jade groaned. "What is it?"

"Jade, is Vilo in there with you?"

"No, Nephry, he should be in the other room. Why?"

"He's not. I went to check on him and he's not there. I can't find him anywhere."

Jade rolled to his feet instantly, pulling on his clothing. From the corner of his eye he saw Saphir doing the same. "We'll be right there."

Nephry was pacing when they got to the living room, Rory next to her. "I've searched the entire house. He's not here." Jade's brother-in-law looked frantic. For Rory, that said volumes.

_Please, no. Please don't let anything have happened to him. Please. I just found him. Please let him be okay. Whatever has to happen let it happen to me, but not him. Please not him._

"I'll go alert the guards." Jade was already halfway out the front door. "If someone's taken him they can't have gotten far."

He stopped short outside. The snow was falling thick and heavy, but in the distance he could make out a small, dark figure in the middle of the road, standing perfectly still. Jade broken into a run.

"Vilo!"

The boy's head was tilted upward, and on his face was a look of wonder and almost fierce joy.

"Dad, look! It's snow!"

"Yes, I know it's snow! What are you doing? Do you know how worried we were? You're not even wearing a coat."

"Jade…" the other had reached them and Saphir was trying to get his attention. "Jade, he's from Chesedonia."

"What does that…" Jade stopped himself, feeling like an idiot. When he spoke to Vilo next his tone was gentle. "You've never seen snow before, have you?"

"No. I heard about it, but…it's so beautiful. I didn't think it would be so beautiful."

"It'll be just as beautiful in the morning. Moreso, because there will be enough of it on the ground for you to actually build something with. Come back inside before you freeze to death."

"Can't I just watch a little bit longer? Please, Dad?"

"I'd like to watch myself." Nephry added. "I didn't realize I missed it so much. Rory, can you go get Michael?"

"Sure. I'll grab some blankets too."

"You've all lost your minds." Jade felt the need to point out.

"Fine. You go back inside and go to bed. We'll stay here and enjoy the snow." Saphir sniffed. "Be a party pooper."

"Yeah, Dad, if you're just going to whine you can leave."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Maybe he hadn't missed all the milestones, he thought suddenly, watching Vilo trying to catch the flakes on his tongue. Maybe he just had to be more alert for different ones. He'd never get to see Vilo learn to walk or talk, but he was watching him learn to read, watching him learn to control his temper, watching him be enchanted by this first snowfall. Someday, he'd watch him fall in love, get married, have his own children. It was just a matter of realizing what he was seeing and not ruining the moment.

He jumped nearly out of his skin when a handful of snow was suddenly pressed against the back of his neck. Nephry danced away before he could retaliate, laughing. He could see the streets beginning to fill up with others, all coming out to welcome the return of perpetual winter.

_We won this battle, but what about the war? What will the causality count be when it's all said and done? _

Well, that was tomorrow's worry. Right now he had more important concerns.

He glanced over at his sister, who had turned her back to him.

Like revenge…


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:**

_The ice-skating story Jade mentions to Vilo can be read in full in the skit called "Nostalgic Memories" in-game. If you've never gotten the skit (and I've never gotten it, I've only seen it in the igloo where you can view all of the skits) a brief summary is that Saphir fell on the ice and was headed for Jade. Rather than be hit by the blades of his ice-skates, Jade melted the ice under Saphir and dumped the boy in the freezing water. _

_Oh, and remember that part in the game where Dist kidnaps Noelle? Yeah? Well, so does Noelle…._

**Chapter 14**

"Bye, sweetheart. I'll see you again really soon." Nephry hugged Vilo tightly.

He blushed, both embarrassed and pleased by the attention. Dressed in a new navy-blue outfit she'd bought for him, and with his hair just trimmed, he felt different today, older. Maybe too old to be seen in public hugging his aunt, but it was kind of nice to have a woman fussing over him again. His mother hadn't much, but he'd grown up the unofficial mascot of the other women in their building: he realized he'd missed that.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay on your own?" She was asking him now. "Your father says he doesn't mind. He can pick you up in a few days."

"Nah, I really want to see Sheridan. Guy says it's the most amazing place in the world. He's going to show me where they make the Albiores."

Nephry sighed. "Well, I guess I can't compete with that. Remember to practice your writing. And listen to Willy."

"I will. I promise."

"Nephry, we need to get going." Jade interrupted. "I promise; I'll bring him back. You have one of your own, you know."

"And he's going to be impossible to deal with as he tries to figure out where his cousin went. Go on, get out of here before I change my mind and petition you for custody." She gave Vilo's hair one last ruffle. "You look so much more handsome now that I can actually see your eyes."

"He'll look even better in a few days. I've gotten annoyed with constantly being asked if I adopted him; I intend to open the fon-slots in his eyes and turn them red. That should stop the inquiries."

"Really?" Vilo asked, excited.

"No, he's teasing you." Nephry glared at Jade, who grinned back. "What? He's a 7th, it should work perfectly."

"On second thought, Vilo, go back inside. This idiot isn't taking you anywhere."

"But I want red eyes."

"Now see?" Nephry folded her arms. "You get to explain to him why you did it, what the consequences were, and why you won't do it to him after you said you would. It serves you right, Big Brother."

"Saphir told me the story. He said Dad was a 'stupid little git'."

"Yes, that pretty much describes it."

"I don't have to stand here and take this kind of abuse." Jade huffed.

"What kind of abuse would you rather take instead?" The boy offered.

"He doesn't need red eyes for people to know he's yours, Jade. He just needs to open his mouth." Nephry laughed. "Write to me soon; let me know how it goes in Sheridan."

Jade and Vilo walked through the snowy village, and Vilo gave a last, wistful look at the children building a snow-fort.

"I like it here." The boy shoved his hands in the pocket of the coat Neprhy had also bought for him. "It's really pretty."

"I hated it." Jade admitted. "I used to look at pictures in books of tropical places, and dream about that what it would be like to live somewhere that wasn't always frozen solid. I couldn't wait to leave."

"In Chesedonia, we used to dump sand on each other and play 'snow-storm'. Do you hate it here now?"

"No, not now. I have no desire to ever live here again, but I don't mind coming back to visit. When I was your age, I never imagined I'd feel that way. People actually used to cross the street to get away from me; I was that disliked."

"What kind of things did you do?"

"Well, there was the time we all went ice-skating and I very nearly killed Saphir…"

Jade briefly told him the story and Vilo's eyes widened. "Wow…poor Saphir."

"He was delirious when they finally pulled him out, and the topper was that even after everything, he kept asking for me. He deserved a much better friend than I was to him. Everyone in Keterburg knew that, except of course for him."

They reached the entrance to the town, and Jade peered out. "Are you sure you don't want to see a wendigo before we leave? It shouldn't be too hard to find one."

"Nah, that's okay. I'm still trying to get the hang of 'pow hammer' and I don't think it'd work too well."

After some thought, Jade had agreed to allow Tear to teach the boy basic spells. Jade could wish Vilo was as dedicated to his actual school-work as he was to learning from the young woman and Saphir, but at least it was something useful.

"Can we come back really soon?" Vilo gave the village a last look as they approached the waiting plane. "I don't want Michael to forget about me."

Jade looked back at his childhood home as well, once again 'the silver world', as it should be. "I'd like that."

******************************

What kind of parent was he, to bring his son to a city that had already been threatened by Lẽtum? Wouldn't it be better to have left him in Nephry's care? Or to send him back to Grand Chokmah to Peony? Jade's thoughts were heavy as they entered Sheridan.

However, he couldn't shake the deep, gut feeling that the only way to really protect Vilo was to keep him close at hand, where he could do it himself. Besides, the grim truth of the matter was that if the boy wasn't safe surrounded by the best fighters Jade had ever known, he wouldn't be safe anywhere. Lẽtum wanted him away from Jade; whether it was to gain better control of the man or because he wanted to do away with the child Jade couldn't say for certain, but the fact that Lẽtum desired it made it all the more important that he didn't get his way.

Of course, this could all just be reverse psychology, but Jade found he couldn't dwell too long on that without giving himself a massive headache.

Vilo gazed up at the city in wonder. "This is amazing…" Next to him, Willy clicked in agreement.

"Isn't it?" Guy was just as excited. "Just wait until you see the hanger. Oh, and the rocket-ship. And the music-box house… I wish we had Mieu with us; I'd show you the barrel breaking game as well. And there's…"

"Which one of them is the child?" Natalia whispered to Tear, who snickered. "Honestly, at his age this is really kind of silly."

"Some of us appreciate knowledge." Saphir interjected. "We don't just sit around all day trying to enhance our looks."

"Excuse me, but you probably spent more time each day in front of the mirror than I do." Natalia fired back. "You definitely spend more on clothing, and I know you're the one who stole my nail-polish; I simply can't prove it."

"As if I would ever lower myself to wear such a horrid shade."

Anise reached down, felt the lump of the little bottle in her pocket, and decided not to say anything. Florian gave her a stern look, but she could see he was trying hard not to laugh.

"Children, children." Jade sighed. "Oh look, there's Noelle."

"Hey, guys. Good to see you. So far nothing, but we've got everyone on alert." She greeted the assembled group, and smiled down at Vilo, but then her eyes fell on Saphir and she froze.

"Noelle…" He began, but the girl quickly crossed the short distance between them, leaned back, and slapped him across the face so hard his teeth cracked together.

"Hey!" Vilo lunged forward, but Saphir grabbed his shoulder in an iron clamp, holding him back. "It's okay, Vilo." His eyes never left Noelle. "I deserved that."

"Damn right you deserved that, you son of a bitch! Do you have any idea what you put me through? What you put my family through?" She was quivering in rage. "Bad enough what you did to me; I could live with that. But you murdered my grandfather!"

"Noelle, he wasn't there that day…" Guy tried to take her arm but she jerked back.

"It doesn't matter if he was there! They were his friends. He's just as responsible." The girl took a deep breath. "He's not welcome here. The rest of you can stay, but he's not welcome in Sheridan."

"I understand." Saphir's voice was almost enough to make Vilo wanted to cry. "I'll wait on the Albiore."

Vilo glared at his father. Why was he just standing there, watching? Why didn't he say something, try to reason with this Noelle? He was supposed to love Saphir, wasn't he? Why was he allowing this?

"I'm afraid that does present a bit of a problem." Jade shrugged. "You see, under the terms of his release, I'm not supposed to let him out of my sight when we're out and about. Leaving him alone with full access to the Albiore would obviously be a violation of that. I'll have no choice but to return to the ship with him. Let me know how things work out with Lẽtum."

"Fine…I surrender. He can stay. But keep him out of my way. Come on, Aston's waiting to speak with you." She turned her back on all of them.

Saphir slipped to the back of the group as they followed the girl, and Jade's son fell back with him. He felt Vilo's hand slip into his, and the boy hummed briefly under his breath. The red hand-print on Saphir's cheek faded back to pale, and the pain ceased. "You owe me the whole story later on." Vilo whispered. Saphir nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Master Vilo is very nosy." Willy pointed out.

"Stuff it, robot."

Vilo could feel the eyes on them as they approached the meeting hall, and moved slightly closer to Saphir. It was different here than in Engeve, different than even back home in Grand Chokmah (weird, when did he start thinking of Grand Chokmah as home instead of Chesedonia?) These people had a grudge against his friend and it was a personal one. He'd always thought his father was exaggerating a bit about the danger Saphir faced. Sure, there were people who didn't like him, but enough to kill him? Some of the looks on the faces here indicated Jade hadn't been too far off the mark. Several of them even spat on the ground as they walked past. Saphir held his head high, staring straight before him, but Vilo had been around him enough to know how much he was struggling to maintain his self-control.

Things were not much better once they entered the meeting hall.

"Hey! Is that a Cheagle?" Vilo pointed at the little orange creature near the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes." Jade confirmed. "His name is Star. If we had a sorcerer's ring you could talk to him. He's a wonderful conversationalist. Star, do you remember me?" He knelt down next to the Cheagle, who chirped to show that yes, he did remember his old friend.. Unfortunately, Jade wasn't the only one he recalled. Star looked over, let out a piercing "MIEEEEUUUUU!" and a stream of fire shot out of his mouth, missing Saphir by inches. The Cheagle then ran past Jade, up the stairs, and cowered behind Aston, shaking and 'mieuing' to himself.

"Wonderful. Of course it would be _that _Cheagle." Saphir muttered.

"They have long memories." Aston came down the stairs. "It's okay, Star. He's not going to hurt you."

Star was not convinced, and ran to the back of the room, hiding himself behind a crate.

"Jade, can't I wait back at the inn at least? They don't want me here any more than I want to be here."

"I will accompany him, Master Jade." Willy offered.

"No. I don't feel safe leaving you alone, for obvious reasons. You did this to yourself; you'll have to bear the consequences at least for now." Saphir turned away before Jade could see the hurt in his eyes. He knew his lover didn't really mean it, that it was simply the stress of the situation catching up with him, but it didn't make it less painful to hear.

Aston decided it was more prudent to simply ignore his unwanted visitor. Noelle had gone to try and comfort the terrified Cheagle.

Jade had explained most of the situation in a letter a few days earlier, but filled Aston in on what had transpired since. "We still don't know what he has planned for your town, only that it's something. The last attacks had no causalities, so I wish I could promise it won't be anything but an annoyance, but there's no way to know for certain."

"Some of our people have already fled across the bridge to Belkend. Most of them stayed, though. We're not sheep to be slaughtered at will, and there's too much here to just abandon. We're a lot tougher than we look."

"Ouch!"

Everyone turned and jumped, only to see Vilo sucking on a burned fingertip. The boy had wandered away from the group to examine some Fontech devices in the corner. "Sorry. It was hot."

"Master Vilo! What has Willy told you about tampering with strange machines? How will ever accomplish anything if you severe your hands?" The little robot was beside himself. "Bad human!"

"It's supposed to be hot. It's a heater for rooms that don't have fireplaces. A lot safer, and a lot more convenient. No logs to chop, that sort of thing. It's still in the infancy stages. You're a Fontech buff too, huh?"

"Yeah. Saphir's teaching me. I'm still learning the basics, but someday I'm going to invent stuff on my own."

"He's going to be unrivaled." Saphir stated proudly, for a moment forgetting the hostility of the environment. "By the time I've finished his education he'll be the best in the world."

"Or at any rate, he'll have the biggest ego." Jade volunteered, and Aston chuckled. "Worse things he could be fascinated by, Jade. My eldest is on his eighth or ninth career by now. None of them pay very well, given how often his letters home request 'donations'."

Vilo quickly grew bored when the conversation turned back to speculation about what Lẽtum was going to do; it was nothing he hadn't been hearing for days now. He moved back to where Saphir was examining the heater. "They're supposed to have a really good Fontech school here, right?"

"One of the best." Saphir agreed. "But they only take the best too."

"Yeah, they probably want someone who can read more than baby books."

"No self-pity from you, young man. If you want to go to school here, I'll get you into school here." Saphir was confident in that. "That will require a bit of cooperation on your part, however."

"Master Vilo is more than capable." Willy added his opinion. "As long as he behaves himself, studies hard, and stops assaulting his instructors with produce."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Vilo blushed a little. "I'm really trying here."

"I know you are. You've improved leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. I've got faith in you. They don't accept anyone younger than sixteen. It's not as if you're about about to run out of time. However, take my advice. If you ever need a test subject, don't use Cheagles. They tend to hold grudges."

"That's pretty cold, man. They're really cute."

"Cute, yes, but smart enough to also take commands, unlike rats. That's why I used them. Of course, everyone finds them adorable, so I look all the more barbaric as a result."

"Hang on." Vilo walked up the steps and knelt down next to Star.

"Hey, little guy. My name is Vilo."

"Mieu?"

"Yeah, Vilo. Listen, I know you're kind of freaked out right now, and I don't blame you. But that guy down there? He's not the same guy that hurt you. I mean, inside he's not the same guy. I know that because he's never hurt me, and he's had a lot of reasons to. So you don't have to hide up here."

"Mieeeuu?"

"Come on." He picked up the little Cheagle, and cuddled it for a moment, and then carried it back down the stairs to Saphir. "I bet he's really sorry for everything he did, aren't you Saphir?" The Cheagle hid his face against Vilo's chest, and then peeked over at Saphir with a sullen expression.

Feeling both guilty and foolish, Saphir bent toward the animal. "I…um…apologize, bea…Star. You have my word I'll never harm you or your people ever again."

_I can't believe I'm apologizing to an animal. The things I do for this child…_

Star considered for a moment, and then extended one tiny hand in Saphir's direction. Saphir gravely accepted it and shook. "Thank you, Star. That's very mature of you."

"Mieu." Star agreed, pleased with himself.

"Vilo, it's about time for his lunch if you want to get it ready for him. The greens he likes are in that container up there." Aston called over.

"Cool. Come on, little guy."

Jade moved to take Vilo's place next to Saphir.

"I'm sorry." He spoke so low no one but his lover heard him. "I shouldn't have snapped at you earlier."

"Don't worry about it. You weren't wrong, after all." He looked over at where Noelle was unmistakably flirting with Guy. "If I had been here I wouldn't have stopped what happened. That makes me just as guilty."

"Then make it up to them. Whatever is going to happen will happen soon enough. I think you'll have more than enough chances to redeem yourself."

Somehow, Saphir didn't find that reassuring.

************************

Saphir found himself pulled from a deep, dreamless sleep by the sound of an urgent bell, and shouting outside his inn window. That, and the pounding on the door.

"Jade!" Guy's voice was muffled by the wood. "Come quickly. We've got big problems!"

"On my way." Jade was awake, alert, and already pulling on his boots. "What's the situation?"

"Monsters! They're deserting the Meggiora highlands in droves and headed this way! They've already managed to breach the city walls! Everyone who can fight is assembling; everyone else is taking cover!"

"Jade…"

Jade turned around to see Saphir as white as a sheet, holding a piece of paper. "It was on his bed."

The simple note, barely legible, chilled Jade to the bone:

"Gawn 2 lok at the roket moor. Be bak soon."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:**

_Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I've been fighting off a pretty nasty virus, and everything I tried to write just came out gibberish. Not that it's far above gibberish at the best of times, but I usually can type in human._

_Being sick gives you a lot of time to think; strange, strange thoughts. I was listening to my MP3 player and imaging it being found somehow on Auldrant, and started wondering how Jade and Saphir would interpret the cultural references in the songs. It was then that "Macho Duck" came up in my playlist. "Macho Duck" is sort of a hybrid of "Macho Man" and "Disco Duck" and I first heard it as a very small child on a "Disney Disco" record (yes, I'm THAT old) that my mother bought for me. (And nearly 30 years later, it still reeks of awesome, which is why I was so happy to find it available for download). Anyway, picturing Jade and Saphir taking notes and trying to figure out our society based on the lyrics of "Macho Duck" nearly put me into hysterics. Then I started thinking that in all of history, all the people that ever lived up to that point in time, I was no doubt the first person ever to picture Dist the Reaper listening to Donald Duck sing about his machismo. It made me happy._

_And that, people, is why this chapter is tardy. Because I seem to have lost my mind._

**Chapter 15**

Even half-way complete and covered in scaffolding, the rocket was the most amazing thing Vilo had ever seen. Sitting on the edge of a stone wall, his legs tugged underneath him, the boy gazed up at the current pride of Sheridan in undisguised longing. To think that people, ordinary people, could make something like that…

Yesterday, he and Guy had poked around it completely, examining every detail, asking every question they could think of, and the engineers had been indulgent of their interest. They had every intention of making it work when all was said and done; they had no idea what they'd find outside of Auldrant, but that made it all the more fun.

I'd go, he thought now. If they'd let me. I don't care what else is out there; I still want to see it. But I want to earn the right to so see, not just because of who my father is. The head engineer pretty much promised me yesterday that I could use my 'connections' to be on board during the maiden flight. That just seems like cheating.

But what if that's the only way? What if no matter how much Saphir tries to help me I'm just…stupid?

"Master Vilo!"

"Willy." Vilo groaned to see the little robot at the base of the wall, staring up at him. "I thought you were asleep."

"I do not sleep. I recharge. Your father will not approve of you going out alone."

"I left him a note. I'll be back before he even wakes up." The boy grumbled.

"That does not matter. Willy has strict orders to monitor your whereabouts and keep you secure."

"Look, Willy…" Vilo shoved his hands in his pockets. "I can't just sit around and do nothing, okay? I'd go nuts."

"You could study." Willy suddenly looked sly for a robot. "Willy might consider allowing this infraction to pass if Master Vilo uses this time to brush up on his mathematics."

Only Saphir, Vilo gave a mental sigh, would program a robot capable of blackmail.

"Fine. Quiz me. Just keep in mind when I don't need you any more, they're always looking for spare scrap-metal around here."

"Master Vilo! Look out!"

**********************

Under the terms of his bond, Saphir was supposed to do whatever Jade told him to do. Under the right circumstances, that could even be fun. He'd learned to put up with it at other times; at this point it was really more annoying than anything else. It wasn't as if Jade's orders were overly complicated, after all. Most of the time now they both treated it like a joke of sorts.

But with monsters on a rampage in Sheridan, and Vilo (_his_ Vilo) out there somewhere in the midst of it, Jade's terse command to 'Go down below to the tavern and help with the wounded' was really too much .Surely Jade couldn't expect him to just sit here applying bandages and cooing 'There, there' when Vilo was in danger. Such a ridiculous order deserved to be disobeyed just on general principle.

The problem was that without his Fontech accessories, he really wasn't able to do much against monsters but yell "Shoo! Go away!" and that didn't tend to be effective. Right, then, he would need some kind of manual weapon. Crude, but there was no help for it.

He left the inn, and for a moment stood startled at the chaos swirling below. Monsters and villagers were everywhere, and to his eyes it looked like a draw as to who was winning. The monsters certainly had an advantage, but these villagers had already lived through one senseless slaughter and they weren't about to take another one lying down. They stood armed with swords, brooms, sticks, and everything else they could get their hands on. Saphir scanned the madness anxiously, but saw no signs of either his companions or Vilo.

He could slip down over the wall and toward the weapon shop, but common sense told him it had probably already been picked clean. He thought for a moment, and then cursed himself for being an idiot. Of course he knew where to find a weapon.

He ran down the steps and into the huge, common room of the tavern where the villagers had been piling up the wounded like cord-wood. One young man who looked like he might have both money and taste was resting near a back wall, a white bandage tied around the top of his thigh. However, it was the sheathed rapier at his side that peaked Saphir's interest.

He knelt down next to him to take a better look at the sword. Thin, light-weight. Perfect. It wasn't as if he was some barbarian, after all. He'd never be able to handle anything heavy.

The young villager gave Saphir a drugged smile as the man tugged the sword free. "Ssss…mine."

"Yes, and you can have it back when I'm done with it."

"No…" The man continued to grin. "Gift from my Nana…"

Saphir tried to process the idea of someone's Nana giving them a sword. Not that he'd ever had a Nana of his own, but he knew that they were usually more inclined toward warm sweaters than weaponry. "Yes, well, Nana wants it back. She wants to..err…polish it for you."

"Sookay. Tell Nana thanks…"

The blade was a lot heavier than he'd thought it would be, in spite of its sleek design. Holding tightly to the hilt, he marched back outside, stepping over a figure sprawled in the doorway. From the smell, he had he decided to handle the invasion by becoming too intoxicated to notice. Not a bad idea, actually, but some of them had responsibilities.

Now that he was armed and dangerous, he had a child to go rescue.

***************************

Willy had been programmed to be not only a companion and teacher for Master Vilo, but a protector as well. He had more than a few tricks up his metal sleeve for keeping the boy safe, not the least of which were some lethal lasers Master Saphir had taken extra care to design for him. He was more than willing to give his artificial life to protect his young charge.

Was it really so much to ask, then, that Master Vilo actually appreciate that sacrifice and keep himself carefully hidden away and out of danger? Did he have to look as though he was enjoying this so much?

Throwing 'Pow hammers' at everything in his path, using his dagger (which he'd won the right to carry days ago by the sheer power of a whine) to slash at any monsters who got too close, Vilo was having the time of his life. It had been far too long since he'd had a good battle; his bouts with the milder desert creatures feeling as if they'd been a life-time ago. He was alive! He was alive, and holding his own, and these stupid monsters would be sorry they _ever_ dared to set foot in Sheridan.

"Master Vilo, will you be careful?" Willy yelled over at him above the melee. "Please flee. Willy will hold them off."

"Nothing doing, Willy." Vilo's dagger slashed across the throat of a rather stubborn bird-like creature who'd gotten too close. "We're in this together." He grinned over at his tutor, who suddenly let out a shriek. "MASTER VILO!"

A pair of wicked claws barely missed Vilo's face, and he fell back against the wall, the shock knocking the dagger out of his hand. In front of him, reared up on hind-legs, was something that looked part wolf, part bear, and all hungry.

"No!" Willy rolled in front of Vilo. "You will not devour him! I will not allow that!" He tried to fire a laser at the creature, but he'd overexerted himself and drained his circuits too low. Nothing happened.

The creature casually batted the robot out of the way, and Vilo watched in horror as Willy fell head over wheels into the dirt. The monster turned back toward his prey, and Vilo closed his eyes tightly.

This wasn't fair! He was only eleven! There was still stuff he needed to do. To his shame, he felt hot tears sliding down his cheek. Hopefully, the monster would make it quick.

***********************

Jade ran faster than he had ever run in his entire life. In the distance, he saw the creature trap Vilo against the wall, saw Willy try and fail to protect his young master, saw the terror and the tears on his son's face. And he knew that no matter how quickly he moved it wasn't going to be fast enough: there wasn't time to reach them, no time for a spell. His son was going to die right before his eyes and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it.

Then, to his disbelief he saw another figure leap from the roof above Vilo, a trick of light almost making the man appear to grow wings. Steel flashed, and the monster's shaggy head went flying separate from its body. The figure was reaching for Vilo, speaking to him, and Vilo was throwing his arms around his rescuer's neck in nearly hysterical relief.

Kratos turned toward Jade, the sobbing boy in his arms, and without a word handed him over to his father.

"Vilo? It's alright, you're safe now." Jade sat him on the ground and tried to calm him. "It's gone."

"There's more of them. They're everywhere!" To hell with his pride right now. Vilo didn't care how silly he looked; he was a kid, and adults were supposed to protect kids. It was the natural order of things.

"I know. Stay close to me. I'm going to get you somewhere safe; I promise you."

"Could Willy get some assistance? I've fallen and I can't get up." Came a plaintive voice behind them.

Vilo ran over and helped the robot back on his wheels. "Are you okay?"

"Affirmative. Are you intact, Master Vilo?"

"Affirmative. Thanks to Kratos."

Another creature, perhaps the mate of the one that had nearly ended Vilo's life, ran at them, and Jade watched Kratos' hands become a blur as he easily dispatched it, as well as what appeared to be its equally nasty young.

"Wow, where did you learn _that_?" Vilo demanded.

"I've had a lot of time to practice."

And suddenly, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place for Jade.

_Sitting in the too-warm classroom, Jade found his mind wandering as Professor Nebilim lectured on history; a subject he had little interest in even at the best of times. Especially not when the history was really just a collection of myths and rumors, and couldn't really be proven._

"_Mr. Balfour…"_

"_Yes, Professor?"_

"_Would you be so kind as to rejoin the rest of us in Keterburg today?"_

_Next to him, he heard Peony snicker under his breath._

"_My apologies, Professor."_

"_Am I boring you?"_

"_No, Professor, it's just…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_It's a fairytale. It's not really history."_

"_Prove that." Professor Nebilim folded her arms across her chest. "You're a man of science. You have a theory. You should know that no theory is worth anything without some proof to back it up. If this story is false, then give me your reasons."_

"_For one thing, I haven't seen all that many elves running around."_

"_Not good enough. The elves kept to themselves in their forest. The half-elves tended to hide their heritage due to local sentiment against them. Try again."_

"_We're also expected to believe that people could make themselves immortal and grow wings… do you see anyone flying about, Professor?"_

_The other students in the class snickered. Jade's arguments with the Professor were legendary and always enjoyable._

"_Again, not good enough. You manipulated your eyesight to enhance it. Why couldn't the knowledge have once existed to augment one's form with wings, or to keep from aging? Saphir?"_

_The other boy gave Jade a shy, almost apologetic look before speaking. "The elves were healers, right? What if the people who can use the 7__th__ Fonon now are really decedents of elves?"_

"_Well thought, Saphir, and that has been considered. The elves were very highly skilled Fonists in all areas, not just healing. It's very possible that those who find themselves gifted with those skills now have some elven blood."_

_Jade made a noise of derision. _

"_Back to the lesson. Kratos returned to the world fourteen years after he left it, and at heart not the hero he had been. The man who had once been driven to protect the world now believed the only way to save it was to remove the basic desires that made one human; greed, anger, love, pride. _

"_Charming fellow." Jade put in, feeling his attention drift again._

_  
Yes, yes, he came back with some bizarre idea about saving the world by destroying it, but then he found out that his dead child wasn't really dead, but was instead being raised by a dwarf (really, how could anyone believe this nonsense) and had a change of heart and decided that he would reunite the world instead, so that everyone could hold hands and live in peace and harmony._

_Kratos, he thought to himself now, was an idiot if he thought that had any chance of success. Hopefully the Professor would grow bored quickly with lecturing them on mythical fraudulent angels and get back to Fonic artes._

He looked over at his unusual companion now, knowing the ridiculous conclusion he was coming to was written all over his face.

"A long, long time to practice." Kratos added with a half-smile.

"By the way, if you're going to send your friend out with a sword, you might want to have someone show him the basics." The other man commented as he and Jade stood shoulder to shoulder against a fresh wave of monsters, Vilo behind them. "He's not doing badly for a beginner, but…" He didn't finish.

He didn't have to. As they rounded the corner a bizarre sight met Jade's eyes. A group of villagers, Saphir among them, were hacking and slashing a group of smaller monsters. At least, the villagers were. Saphir, having no more idea on how to use a sword than how to sprout wings and live forever, was using the weapon almost like a club: cutting some creatures, stabbing others, and smacking others on the head with the flat of the blade. He was also obviously more focused on looking for someone than fighting, glaring at the monsters in annoyance as he hacked and bashed them out of his way. If it wasn't such a serious situation, Jade would have sat down in the middle of the road and laughed himself sick.

He decided to be aggravated instead.

"I believe I told you…" Jade's spear flashed and impaled one of the creatures. "to wait for me at the tavern.

"I was looking for… Vilo!" He shoved Jade aside and grabbed the boy into a strangling hug. "You're alive!"

"Yeah…I was…until…now." Vilo managed to gasp out.

Jade's patience was at an end. With a growl, he grabbed Saphir roughly by the upper arm and his son by his shoulder, marching them both forward in the direction of the tavern. He released Saphir just long enough to open the door, and then shoved both the man and the boy inside. Willy obediently rolled in after them.

"If either of you even think about leaving, you'd better hope the monsters find you before I do! Stay put, stay here, stay out of trouble! Do I make myself clear?"

"I'll have you know I was doing quite well…"

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Fine. I know when I'm not wanted. Come, Vilo. Let's see if there's any food left. Obviously our skills aren't appreciated."

"Do not worry, Master Jade. Willy will make sure they remain here."

"Thank you. At least the _robot_ has some common sense."

Once his family was safely inside, or as safe as they could be right now, Jade turned back to the battle at hand and rejoined Kratos. He still hadn't seen any signs of the others and could only hope that they were managing to hold their own against the onslaught.

**********************

Saphir had parked Vilo in a corner of the tavern and went into the back trying to salvage something for them to eat. Now that the battle was shut out, the boy could see for himself just how bad the damage was.

Wounded citizens were everywhere, and the air hung heavy with the smell of gels, and blood, and other things he didn't like to think about. It was noisy too: people were moaning and crying and talking. Some people sat alone rocking themselves, others were trying to tend to the injured the best they could. Other people were lying so still Vilo knew that no gels or healers in the world could help them at this point.

One of the things he was coming to love more and more about Jade was that his father never tried to sugarcoat things for him, or treated him like he was too young to understand. He knew as much about Lẽtum as the adults did, but for the first time since this entire ordeal had begun, he was beginning to see the entity as something more than just an annoyance. People had been hurt today; seriously hurt. People had died. He'd almost died.

He felt the slow burn of his temper rising, and this time he didn't even try to control it. Where did it get off torturing people like this? What had these folks ever done to Lẽtum to deserve to suffer?

Someone whimpered from the other side of the room, and Vilo's anger continued to flare. These people had families: some of them were just kids like him. Some of them had kids of their own. This was sick, and it was evil, and he couldn't just sit here and not do…something.

He walked over to the source of the whimper, and found a small knot of people huddled around a pretty young woman. At least, she had probably been pretty at one point. One eye was completely missing; her throat was razed with claw-marks and bright red arterial blood was spurting out. The older man and woman with her were both weeping, holding her hands, and Vilo could see they were trying to offer their daughter what comfort they could before she left them.

_His mother…laying there all cut up, covered in blood, her eyes glazed and fixed on the ceiling. Not able to hear him, not able to scold him for crying, not able to squeeze his hand back. Nothing but blood and an empty shell._

Kneeling down, he reached the girl, who stared blankly at him from her one good eye.

"What're you doing?" The older man asked. "Lad…"

Vilo ignored him and put his hands on the girl, humming his song as loud as he could.

For a moment he didn't think it was going to work: she was too far gone, death had a hold on her and was fighting back. Imagining that it was Lẽtum, Vilo hummed louder, so loud he missed the gasp around him as the hole in the girl's throat closed, and her labored breathing returned to normal. There was nothing he could do for her eye: he knew that before he started, but it seemed as if he could feel the humming through the tips of his fingers, the flare as her life-force flashed back into her.

He'd won. Maybe he couldn't stop what was happening outside, but for this woman, this life, he'd won.

"He's a 7th." Someone whispered. "A working 7th."

"It's okay now." Vilo whispered to the girl. "Get some sleep."

"Lad…" Someone was trying to get his attention. "My son, he's hurt badly. Over here..."

He saw Saphir across the room, staring at him in disbelief, and nodded slightly at his friend.

_Sorry, Saphir. Dad. Mom. I know you all wanted me to keep this to myself but it's too important. I can do this…I can't fight very well yet, and but I can do this, and I am going to do this. _

He looked over at the frantic young mother. "Show me."


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N**__: *waves* Still contagious here so I apologize for any weird typos. _

_I also apologize if Winston seems a little to "stereotypical villain" here and one-note. There's actually a lot more to him that meets the eye, I promise. As for Noah…*grins*. The first person who figures out who Noah really is before I reveal it wins a prize. (And no, he never built an arc…)_

_And the cold-meds saga continued. Last night I found myself mentally replacing the cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show with "Abyss" characters, and thinking that Jade would be the best Dr. Frank N. Furter in the history of the world. Dist would kick major butt as Riff Raff. Waffling on Rocky and Eddie: I know that Guy should do one and Peony the other but I'm going back and forth about which should do which. They'd both be okay in either role. Luke and Natalia as Brad and Janet. Anise would be a cool Columbia. On the fence about Magenta: I'm leaning toward Legretta. Not sure who should be the Criminologist or Dr. Scott: Spinoza might be a decent Dr. Scott, but Van could pull it off as well. Haven't found a role for Tear yet. _

_But picturing Jade strutting around in fishnets and stilettos singing "Sweet Transvestite" just makes me swoon…_

Chapter 16

Vilo couldn't remember ever being as hungry in his entire life. On his second sandwich and third bowl of soup, he ate without any regard to decorum or manners, and it wasn't as if anyone had any energy tonight to scold him anyway.

Well, almost no one.

"Honestly, you'd think we're raising you in a petting zoo. You're getting soup everywhere, and I'm not doing your laundry, young man. You can just figure out how to get the stains out yourself." Saphir reached over and ladled more beef broth into Vilo's bowl.

"Sorry. I'm just starved all of a sudden."

"Not surprising, given how much energy you used up today." Jade sat across from them at the small table in Aston's quarters, the others in the group around them. "It's remarkable you're even able to sit upright."

"Are you going yell at me again?" Vilo asked suspiciously around a spoonful of broth.

"I haven't yelled at you at all, might I remind you. Although I will admit it was tempting. I understand why you felt the need to reveal your gifts, and that's admirable, but it does present some complications. Saphir tells me that you got to see for yourself how…needy people can be."

"It wasn't so bad when they had me treating serious stuff. But once I was done, they wanted me to heal little stupid stuff. One guy wanted me to cure his pimples." Vilo grinned at that. "That's when Saphir got really mad. He started waving his sword at them and called 'em all vultures. After that they left me alone." He took another huge bite of his sandwich. "Then you guys showed up. I was pretty glad to get out of there. I figured I'd be curing jock itch next, and I really wasn't looking forward to that."

Aston coughed, changing the subject. "Do you think it's over? Or was this the first wave?"

"No way to know. I'm hoping Lẽtum got whatever it was out of his system, but this might have just been the tip of the iceberg. The reinforcements from Malkuth and Kimlasca have helped enormously. This is my fault for underestimating what he had planned. I'm sorry."

"None of that, Jade." Aston shook his head. "No one could possible know what this thing has in mind or what it plans to do next. All you can do is what you've been doing, which is fighting it when it shows itself."

"So what do we do next?" Natalia asked. "We can't simply sit around waiting."

Kratos, who had been quiet up to that point, finally spoke. "I'd like to go into the Meggiora Highlands tomorrow. Something drove the monsters out; it's possible that something is still there and can be dealt with."

"That's not a bad idea. The soldiers can secure the town against any further attacks, leaving us free to do some investigating." Jade swallowed back the questions that were literally burning the tip of his tongue. He hadn't so far had a chance to grill Kratos about his insane theory; they'd had more pressing concerns. However, he intended to remedy that as soon as possible. If this self-invited companion had any skills at all that could be beneficial to them, Jade wanted them on the table.

There was a knock on the front door, and Anise groaned. "Oh, not again. Make them go away already."

Florian wandered to the door and pulled it open; if this was someone wanting Tear or Vilo to heal something he fully intended to give them a piece of his mind. Instead it was a Malkuth soldier, who spotted Jade and saluted crisply. "Colonel Curtiss, sir. I was told you might be here."

"Yes? What is it?"

"There's a man here insisting on speaking to you. He says he's your brother, sir."

Vilo gave his father a sharp look. What brother? Jade only had a sister, Nephry. What was this guy talking about? And why did his father have this sudden, pained expression on his face.

"Which one?" Jade finally sighed. "Wendell or Winston?" He ignored Vilo's frantic attempts to get his attention. "Not that there's a world of difference." He muttered, almost to himself.

"General Winston Curtiss, sir."

"Jade, there you are."

The man who shouldered the soldier aside and strolled into the house looked about as much like Jade as Vilo did. He was short and stocky, with deeply receding brown hair and a belly that hung loosely over the belt of his military pants. His face had the red, florid look of someone who deeply enjoyed good food and drink and wasn't ashamed of that.

"Winston." Jade nodded, looking now somewhat resigned. "What brings you here?"

Saphir leaned close to Vilo, who looked about ready to kill someone unless his curiosity was settled immediately. "His family adopted Jade when your grandparents died. He's no blood relation to you. Jade has as little to do with the family as possible; they're all idiots."

"I could ask you the same thing. Odd coincidence that your group happened to be here when all of this went down, isn't it?"

"Not at all. We were forewarned that Sheridan might be in line for some nasty business and decided to be in the area."

"Forewarned, eh?"

"The Emperor knows all the details, Winston. We've kept him informed of all developments. If he's chosen not to share that with you, that's hardly my affair."

The man colored slightly. "Now you see here, Jade…"

"Winston, I've had a very long day and I want nothing more to finish my dinner and go to bed. If you wish to come by in the morning I might have more information for you, but this isn't the place or time."

Winston looked over at Vilo, who had been unashamedly staring at him since his arrival. "Is that your boy, Jade?" He asked with real interest.

"No, no. My son is safely at home in bed. This is just some random stray we picked up in town. I said no, but Saphir whined so terribly that…"

Winston sighed. "Mother's having a fit, you know. She says she's sent you three invitations to bring him by and have him introduced properly."

"And the fact that I've politely declined all three should give her a hint, don't you think?" Jade rubbed his forehead.

"Jade, please. Mother's been very decent to you…"

"Winston, if I thought for a moment she'd be decent to him I'd have brought him by right away. You know how Mother Curtiss feels about status and breeding: we're more than capable of humiliating the boy on our own without hiring outside the family."

Vilo was starting to get that "I don't care who, but I'm attacking someone" look. Saphir grabbed his arm and hustled him into Aston's bedroom. Everyone else was so intent on the conversation between Jade and this hereto unknown brother (including Aston) that they didn't even notice.

"So I've got a grandmother too?" Vilo finally spat out. "No one thought it might be cool to mention this?"

"Your father had his reasons. I told you; they're all idiots."

"He's ashamed of me, isn't he?" The boy was began pacing around the room. "Because of my mother…"

"You watch your mouth!"

Vilo turned, startled by his friend's sudden anger. "Weren't you listening in there? Jade's trying to protect you from people who _would_ be ashamed of you. He's trying to spare you that, you ungrateful brat."

Saphir sighed deeply. "I had to live with them, you know. When your grandparents died, and the Curtiss family offered to adopt Jade, one of his conditions was that I went with him. Not Nephry: she was away in school at the time and doing fine. But he was adamant that I not be left behind. His adopted parents agreed; they would have agreed to anything at that point, and by then I had a reputation of my own. They weren't unhappy with Jade's proposal.

"However, they never, ever let me forget that I was beneath them. Winston and Wendell were far too stupid to understand that I was your father's servant, period. They were always trying to order me about and running to their mother to whine when I refused. She'd look down her nose at me and chide them to remember my 'background' and that loyalty to Jade was all I knew. I almost preferred her idiot sons."

"Saphir, I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Seeing any member of the Curtiss clan puts me in a foul mood for days. Jade knows they wouldn't be any better to you, even if you are his son."

At that moment, they could hear Jade's strident voice through the closed oak door.

"Then I'll change his name to Balfour if that's the problem, and mine back along with it. Least I sully the precious word 'Curtiss'. Will that satisfy you?"

Vilo winced. "Ouch. He sounds pretty mad."

"They tend to put him in a foul mood as well. What are you doing?"

"Saphir, this is about me. I have to go handle it."

"But…"

Vilo grinned at him, and again Saphir saw a flash of Jade for just a moment. "You weren't much older than me and you handled them, right?"

He and Saphir left the bedroom and rejoined the others, who were still glued to rare spectacle of Jade really being on the verge of losing his temper.

"And another thing." Winston nodded in their direction. "Leaving him alone all the time with that…criminal. Have you lost your mind?"

"Most likely. He's a horrible influence on Saphir, I know, but there's really no way around it most of the time. It shouldn't affect his rehabilitation too much." Jade shrugged, and Vilo snickered under his breath.

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it."

"All kidding aside, he takes excellent care of Vilo. I'm not sure I see your point."

"I'm sure he does take 'care' of him. I'm sure he's thrilled part of his prison release includes unlimited access to a little boy."

There was a gasp from the table behind them, and Saphir's face turned crimson. However, before he could respond there was a flash of movement. Vilo had broken away from his side, launched himself bodily at his adopted uncle, and knocked the startled man to the ground. Winston gasped at the feeling of Vilo's dagger against his throat.

"You take that back, you son of a bitch." The boy straddled Winston's chest. "You apologize to him right now for even thinking something like that! And who are you calling a 'little boy', creep?"

"Jade…" Winston managed to squeak out. "Help…"

"Now, Vilo, really. Aston wouldn't approve if you getting blood all over this lovely carpet of his."

"Darned if I care." Aston volunteered. "Never was that fond of it."

"Jade, please…"

"I believe my son asked you to apologize to Saphir. I ashamed to admit when he gets like this I simply can't do a thing with him. It might be in your best interest to play along."

"Fine. I apologize. I'm sorry for insulting your…friend."

Vilo stood up slowly, the dagger still in his hand. "You better be."

"Have a good evening, Winston." Jade opened the front door, letting in the night breeze. "Give my regards to Mother Curtiss."

As soon as Winston's rather large rear-end had cleared the door Jade slammed it shut behind him.

"My apologies, everyone. I didn't mean to involve you in my family melodrama. Is there any soup left?"

Anise hurried to fill Jade's bowl. "Wow. No wonder you never talk about them."

"My adoption was based on mutual need, not affection. We both got what we needed out of it." He sat down at the table, his face once again unreadable. "I try and keep my contact with them at the bare minimum but they still insist on seeking me out now and then. Vilo?"

"Yeah?"

"I approve of the sentiment behind what you did, but I do wish you'd let me handle things in the future. You're still a bit crude in your methods."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yes, it worked. Hopefully he runs back to Mother Curtiss and assures her that you're a little beast that has no business setting foot inside her fine home. Saphir, I'm sorry for Winston's behavior. That was inexcusable."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll just build a fon machine and turn him into a pig. He's already halfway there." Saphir stated blithely.

"I'm still not real happy that you didn't tell me about them." Vilo wasn't about to let Jade off the hook so easily. "I handled your brother okay: I could handle your mom as well."

"Vilo, as much as the image of you knocking Mother Curtiss to the ground and holding a knife to her throat amuses me, I really think I'll pass. I want her to leave me something in the will. I've had my eye on her porcelain tea-set for years and I won't have you jeopardizing that."

"The one with the red flowers?" Saphir inquired. "The one you smashed to pieces and then replaced with fomicry?"

"Yes, that one. I'm rather attached to it." Jade took another swallow of his soup and stood up. "I'll meet you all back at the inn. I want to have another look around town to make sure things are secure. Kratos, will you join me?"

"Of course."

Jade wished Aston a good evening and followed the swordsman outside into the night. Real night, for the first time in weeks. The flashing, pulsating colors were gone and above them the stars shown down. Had they always looked so…bright?

"Seems Lẽtum got bored with his little display. That's either a good or bad sign." Jade began.

"That's not what you brought me out here to ask, is it? If I think Lẽtum is bored?" Kratos was smiling a little.

"Fine, I'll start with what's foremost on my mind. I learned at my mother's knee that it's rather rude to ask someone this, but exactly how old are you?"

"I'm not entirely certain of that." Kratos shrugged. "By my best calculation somewhere around five thousand, give or take a few centuries."

Jade sucked in his breath. "I can sleep for as long as I need to." Kratos continued, pretending not to notice. "Sometimes when I wake up the calendar has changed and there's no way to know how long I've been in stasis. This is why I didn't have the information for you about Lẽtum. I was…away…when he last made his presence known here."

"Why? Good Heavens, man, does the idea of death scare you that badly?"

"Death doesn't scare me. I'm looking forward to it. When I wake up, the first thing I do is a reconnaissance of the world. I've always told myself that if I awake and I'm not needed, then I'll end it all. However, that hasn't happened. There's always been something for me to do. This time was no different."

They were passing the capacity core shop, and stepped over the pile of rubble that had once been the rear wall. "The second thing I do when I awaken is try and track down some of my decedents. Of course, after all this time my blood in their veins is as good as non-existent. This last sleep went on far too long: I was only able to locate two. They were living in Chesedonia: a mother and son."

Jade gave him a startled look, which Kratos returned with a half-smile and a shrug. "I try not to interfere. I'm not always successful in that. What else do you need to know?"

"I'm not one to pry, but anything you can do that might prove beneficial in our current situation would be much appreciated."

"Not much, I'm afraid. I won't die of old age: that doesn't mean I can't be killed in any number of other ways."

"Certainly. Someone could mistake you for a pheasant and shoot you out of the sky."

Kratos laughed. "I think I'd be mistaken for something larger than a pheasant. Although in the past I wasn't above pretending to be an angel to put wayward descendents back on the right path."

They had reached the edge of the village now, and Jade stared out at the barren wasteland beyond. It appeared almost ghostly silent now; he had to wonder how long that would last. Would tomorrow simply be a repeat of today?

"Or if you had a little too much to drink and were just feeling mean." Came a disembodied voice from the shadows, and Jade had to restrain himself from jumping.

"I wondered when you'd show your face." Kratos, for the first time since Jade had met him, looked really and truly pleased about something. "I was growing concerned."

A thin man of indeterminate age stepped away from the building and into the thin light of the evening. He was neither handsome nor plain, with a broad, friendly face and the longest fingers Jade had ever seen.

"Jade Curtiss, this is Noah. He's…an old friend. He's got some rather unique abilities you might fight useful."

Noah extended his hand to Jade, who accepted. Their little band was growing bigger by the day. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Good thing, he finally decided. It wasn't like they could afford to turn away any…

Suddenly there was a burst of fire inside his head, as if the very channels of his brain had been doused in oil and set alight. He tried to scream but no sound came out. He was vaguely aware of hitting his knees on the hard-packed earth, of Kratos reaching for him, mouthing words he could not hear, and then nothing.


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N:**_

_Okay, when the bottle of Theraflu says "2 tablespoons"? Yeah, they really mean 2 tablespoons. They don't mean take 2 tablespoons, forget you took it, and then take another 2 tablespoons. Otherwise you could find yourself sitting in bed with the world spinning around, giggling and singing Maroon 5's "Wake Up Call" at the top of your lungs._

_  
I'm just saying…_

_The character of Tessitura Sordina belongs to Moonshine's Guide. Her prize for correctly guessing who Noah really is (Noishe) was a cameo appearance for character of her own choosing. I hope she doesn't beat me up too badly for what happens to poor Tess…*evil laugh*._

_Thanks and cookies to Moonshine and everyone else for sticking with me through this saga. I'm having a blast writing it and again I'm always very humbled that someone is actually taking the time to read my ramblings. You guys just rock._

_There is some grossness in this chapter, and Jade being not-so-nice at several points. _

**Chapter 17**

**FLASH**

_He was small and unaware that he was small, or that the world was any larger than the tight darkness he occupied, and yet he was aware of changes. Sounds became clearer although he couldn't discern their meaning. The space became smaller; he tried to stretch his legs and could not and it annoyed him. _

_Then the cold came, and the pain, and fear mingled with excitement. His lungs sucked in air for the first time and he screamed in both joy and rage at the sudden, unexpected freedom. He stretched his legs as far as they would go and grabbed the fingers they placed in his hands he heard words he did not understand._

"_Jade. His name is Jade."_

**FLASH  
**

_He never crawled. He sat, and then he walked, using whatever was nearby to pull himself up on long, awkward legs. Crawling was pointless when it kept him against the ground and away from everything he wanted to see, and he wanted desperately to see everything, to learn everything._

_Cover light and a shadow formed. Liquid took the shape of whatever container held it. Fire ate wood and made a nice smell and was a "no". The pretty cat was alive, like him, but different than him. He liked the cat; the cat left him alone. He didn't like the other Like Him People so much. They were always picking him up, moving him around, trying to hold him on their laps and it made him angry. There was too much to do, to touch, to taste, to experience, and he knew it made them angry too when he pulled away. _

_He was learning their language quickly, how form his thoughts into sounds they'd understand, but again he was frustrated that they tried to pick and choose what he said. _

"_Mama." They urged._

"_Light." He pointed at the window._

"_Dada."_

"_Cat."_

_He learned that these people were "Mama" and "Dada" and found it amused him to call them by each other's names. "Mama" would often start making strange choking noises after several greetings of "Dada" and it was delightful. He called Cat "Bottle" and when asked his own name would reply with the word for whatever happened to be in his line of vision at the time. They would fuss and make the noises that sounded like "There's something wrong with him" and "retarded" and he would giggle to himself but never out loud because their responses were all part of the game and he was enjoying the game. He was enjoying his life._

**FLASH**

_Baby was small. Baby was "sister" and was going to live with them now, and he wasn't allowed to pick up the baby or play with her because he might "hurt the baby". _

_He went into Baby's room, all decorated with pretty colors and stuffed animals, and Baby smiled when she saw him and kicked her feet in the air and laughed. He liked Baby. Baby could annoy him with her crying but she liked him too and Mother and Father did not. They didn't like him at all. They only liked Baby but it wasn't her fault._

_Baby had to be bored in here. He pulled up a chair to her crib and picked her up, and she cooed at him and laughed. He laid her down in a warm blue blanket and wrapped her up tightly, and then he and Baby left by the servant's entrance and went outside to play. _

_Baby had seen snow but never touched it before, and she giggled when he put her down and started patting it with her tiny hands. He tried to show her how to make snowballs but she was too small and put the snow in her mouth instead and that was okay; she had time to learn._

_He had hoped Baby would be "like him" but he knew she wasn't. She was "normal" and he wasn't and that was just the way things were. He knew she had a name, but he didn't like saying it. She wasn't Nephry to him, just "Baby" because it sounded better._

_When Baby got bored with the snow he picked her up again and they walked into the town together, and then a man in a blue uniform saw them and became upset and grabbed them both and took them back home. He tried to explain that he wasn't going to "hurt Baby"; he just wanted to go for a walk with her, but everyone kept yelling that he was "bad" and told him to "stay away from Nephry" and it made him angry. That night the fire got to eat lots of other things besides wood; expensive books and pictures and a real prize; the dress Mother wore to get 'married', whatever that was. _

_They should know better than to make him angry, after all._

**FLASH**

_He tossed and turned in his bed for nearly an hour before giving up and putting on his robe and slippers. There was a hunger in him these days, a restlessness, and he understood the reason and was helpless against it. _

_So many ideas crashing around through his brain like the water against the dock of Keterburg Bay. So much, too much to contain and all of it useless. No one understood what he meant, what his ideas could do. Even Professor Nebilim couldn't do much to help him; just told him to write everthing down. As if he needed to do that to remember._

_His churning feelings drove him downstairs tonight; perhaps reading would calm him enough to bring on sleep, which was more and more elusive these days. It teased him; he would be on the cusp of drifting off, and then another idea would rapid-fire into his head, and before he knew it he was awake and hunched over his desk making calculations and another night dissolved into dawn._

_He was the only one who ever used the library; Mother and Father had books they read often but they kept them in their own chambers, not trusting Jade with anything they liked. It was foolish of them; he didn't destroy books any longer, not since he'd learned how to decipher their contents. Books were precious. These books were his._

_Someone was in his library. As he entered there was a startled gasp and in the firelight he saw the new maid's son quickly close a thick text and jump to his feet, stammering apologies._

"_What are you doing with that?" He noticed the title and gave the younger boy a look full of scorn. "If you want something to read talk to my sister. She has lots of picture books."_

_Something…moved in the other boy's face. Beyond the fear, wounded pride. "I don't like…picture books, Master Balfour. I'm sorry. Please don't get my mother fired."_

_Jade strolled over to him and touched the cover of the physics book the boy had been engrossed in. "Why were you reading that?"_

_The boy dropped his head. "It's…interesting."_

"_Oh?" This was going to be fun. "Read me something out of it."_

_The boy opened the book to a page at random and began reading a passage regarding energy and movement. Still not convinced, Jaded then demanded he interpret what he'd just read and again that look of wounded pride when the boy complied. _

"_Where did you learn this?" _

"_I…like to read. The houses my mother has worked in usually had a lot of books and so…I read." The boy shrugged and gave Jade a shy look._

_Jade paused, and studied the boy carefully. "What else do you like to do?"_

"_I'd like to build things. When I read this stuff I see things in my head, machines, and I think I could build them too. Someday. Of course, that's expensive." He added. _

_Jade still wasn't completely convinced of what he had in front of him; it was in his nature to be skeptical and he didn't believe in gods or prayers, and it seemed far too convenient that the answer to those secret desires might be found in this ugly little child. _

"_Well, let's see what you can do then."_

**Flash**

_Bottle was dead. Nephry found him lying in the sunlight that Remday morning, stiff and cold, his tongue hanging out from a muzzle grizzled with age. She couldn't stop crying and hugging his body, trying to warm him. _

_They stood outside as Jade's father struggled to break up the frozen ground with the shovel; he could have asked Jade to use his fonic artes to warm the earth but did not, and Jade did not expect him to. They put Bottle's little body into the ground and covered him up, and Nephry whispered prayers to Yulia to guide him safely to Heaven. Saphir patted her hand to calm her down. Jade said nothing._

_That night, with a very reluctant Saphir behind him, Jade unearthed the cat's body and refilled the hole, taking the little animal upstairs to the attic and laying him out on a table specially prepared for just this instance. He'd known for months that Bottle was about to die; he had been tempted to help him along but had not, because it might affect the results he saw. _

_In spite of the fact that he looked ready to vomit, Jade's human pet helped him pin his former feline one to the table and handed his master the tools he needed to dissect poor Bottle. One by one Jade laid the organs neatly on the table, examining each one and labeling it carefully: lung, heart, liver, stomach._

"_If I can figure out why things die of old age, maybe I can figure out how to stop it." He explained to the green-tinted Saphir. "Perhaps someday we can find out how to make people live forever."_

"_If anyone can do that, you could, Jade." Saphir assured him proudly. _

**FLASH**

_The bundle in the guard's arms seemed impossibly tiny, wrapped so tightly in a thick blanket it was impossible to see any part of him. The guard, grim-faced, ignored the excited crowd around him as he rushed to get the boy to warmth. It was obvious from the hardness in his jaw and the way he was blinking he wasn't expecting the results to be anything but tragic._

"_Jade…" The boy in his arms whimpered. "Where's…Jade?"_

"_I'm right here, Saphir. I'm here." Jade's shorter legs had to pump quickly to keep up with the guard's stride. "I won't leave you."_

_I'm sorry…_

**FLASH**

"_Did you kill them?"_

_One by one the mourners had come by to offer condolences to the Balfour children as they turned away from the freshly dug twin graves. Nephry had tearfully accepted their words. Jade's eyes were dry as he shook their hands and assured them that he and his sister would be fine. Now, besides the two of them, only loyal little Saphir remained, always ready if his master needed him. If he was frightened about his own fragile status now that his benefactors were deceased, he'd said nothing out of respect for Jade and Nephry's loss, which he understood all too well._

"_Did you kill our parents, Jade?" Nephry was staring straight ahead and could not look at her brother._

"_Sister, I was nowhere near that ferry when it went over. Do you really think me so demonic that I can sprout wings at will and fly from here to Chesedonia overnight?"_

"_That's not an answer!"_

"_No." Only Saphir noticed the tightening of Jade's jaw and the way his eyes narrowed, and understood how hurt and angry he was by his sister's question. "No, Nephry, I did not kill them. I won't pretend I had any great affection for them, but if you won't believe I didn't strike them down out of malice, at least tell yourself I would not have done so because of the inconvenience it might cause to my own life."_

"_They were our parents!"_

"_Your parents, dear sister. Never mine. I've played the dutiful son today enough. Come, Saphir. I want to return home now."_

**FLASH**

_He'd always lived by the belief that curiosity in all forms should be indulged and explored. Be it why light refracted into rainbows or what made a cat grow old or what made fomicry work. Life was a gift to be tested and tasted and analyzed. He had no patience at all for anything that didn't intrigue him._

_The odd urges and changes in his body; animal-like but undeniable and distracting, were a curiosity that he felt he needed to indulge. He'd tried for several years now to ignore them, but was rapidly coming to the conclusion these more basic needs were similar to hunger: annoying but necessary for one's survival. There was simply no getting around the fact that he was a human being, perhaps a little more evolved than most but still human. _

_Peony had been indulging those urges for quite a while now, and was rather biased in his opinions on their behalf. If nothing else could be said for it, it definitely seemed to have some benefit as a stress relief. Of course, there were possible drawbacks as well…this required some careful consideration._

_The most logical choice to satisfy his curiosity would have been Saphir. His loyal little servant was completely and totally unaware of how painfully obvious his feelings for Jade really were, and it certainly wouldn't have taken much convincing on Jade's part to add a few additional tasks to Saphir's daily duties. In addition, there were no risks of unwanted 'replicas' popping up, and unless his pet had a secret life Jade was completely unaware of no risk of odd diseases or pests taking root in uncomfortable places. _

_However, while Jade wanted to explore this more carnal aspect of his nature in greater detail, the greatest risk was that whomever he chose would probably (and with Saphir would definitely) want more than he was able or willing to give. He wasn't looking for a relationship, or a home, or family, or a doting significant other. Later in his life, he would solve this dilemma by being a well-liked patron of the world's oldest profession. However, at the age of eighteen he had found another option._

_Her name was __Tessitura Sordina__. She was neither a breathtaking beauty or distractingly plain; neither a mind-blowing genius or a dunce, and she had a practical, realistic approach to life that he found refreshingly different than most of the young women he knew. Her interest in was enhancing a body's inherent fonic ability, natural ampflication instead of artificial, and while there were a few flaws with her theories they were generally sound. _

_She was friendly to him with the overtures he recognized as a curiosity of her own. The way she watched him over the tips of her half-moon glasses, the way she touched her short blond hair when he spoke with her or smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her white work shirt, brushed imaginary dirt of her impeccable black trousers. This had potential._

_He'd carefully allowed his own interest to emerge, a little bit at a time; it wasn't dignified to look like a randy school-boy after his first lay, but he also carefully avoided any signs of sentiment, anything that would give her the impression that he desired anything more from her that just that. It was a business arrangement of sorts, not much different than the one he had with the Curtiss family._

_Eventually, it ended (naturally) back her in her modest quarters, with Jade lying dazed and winded and thinking that for once Peony had known exactly what he'd been talking about. This…this had much more than potential. An incredibly pleasurable release of pressure and tension, and a chance to spoil himself a little bit. He should have done this years ago. And it didn't hurt his ego any to realize that untrained or not, he seemed to have a natural talent for it. She certainly didn't look displeased._

_The bliss lasted for a full five minutes before the young woman began to speak in soft, loving tones about the future, calling him 'darling' and speaking of children, and meeting her family, and the glorious life they'd carve together. At first he was amused, thinking she was joking with him, and then slowly became more and more horrified. The mood broken, he quickly climbed out of bed and began dressing himself._

"_Jade? Where are you going?"_

"_Home."_

"_Why? Did I do something wrong? Darling…"_

"_Don't call me that."_

"_I don't understand…"_

"_No, you don't. I see that now. The fault is mine and I apologize. This was…this wasn't intended to be what you thought it was. I wish you the best."_

"_You used me!" She was trembling, the blue of her eyes shimmering and refracted behind her tears. "You used me…you were my first!"_

"_You were mine too." He felt the need to point out. "We both enjoyed ourselves, which I felt was the entire purpose of this. There's no need for dramatics."_

"_They were right about you! Everyone was right!" She was really crying now, and rather than sympathy he just felt his annoyance grow. "Saphir tried to warn me…"_

"_Saphir?"_

"_He came to see me. He said he was worried about how close we were getting, that he knew you better than anyone and knew how…cold you could be. He said he didn't want me to get hurt."_

_Jade burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, just…if you only knew. Good-bye, Tess."_

_He went home and found Saphir hunched up in the window seat of the Jade's massive chamber, staring out blankly into the night._

"_Have you eaten yet?" He asked, and the boy jumped. "Jade…you're back."_

"_Obviously. Have you eaten?"_

"_No…"_

"_Come on then. I'm famished and there's a new restaurant not far from here I'm interested in trying out. My treat, of course."_

_Saphir brightened instantly. "I thought you…the girl…"_

"_A misunderstanding that's been corrected. She's seen that I'm not really what she's looking for."_

_He almost felt guilty about the renewed hope in the boy's eyes. Well, that wasn't his fault, at least. Unlike this debacle with Tessitura he'd done nothing to encourage Saphir's less-than-platonic affections, and he didn't intend to do so. He supposed if he ever was inclined to want that sort of relationship with anyone, Saphir would be better than anyone else. They were certainly compatible in other ways. But for now, he had no desire to go down that path. He wanted freedom, and he wanted to enjoy himself, and from now on he'd just have to dig into his pockets and purchase that enjoyment. Far easier that way. _

_For everyone involved._

**FLASH**

"_Did you close your eyes?"_

"_Jade… please…"_

"_I asked you a question. With the others…did you close your eyes? Did you pretend it was me?"_

"_I…can't…"_

"_I won't move until you answer me."_

"_Yes! Damn it, yes! Always! I always closed my eyes. I always pretended it was you! Does that make you happy?"_

"_Open them now. Look at me."_

"_Jade…"_

"_Look at me. I won't have you pretending I'm anyone else. This time it's me that's taking you, and I want you to know that. Good boy…"_

**FLASH**

He was floating in darkness, like he had in the very beginning, but a loose, empty darkness. And unlike before, he wasn't alone.

"Why did you show me these things?" He didn't know if he spoke out loud or if he just thought the words, but his unwanted companion heard them in any case.

_//To show you the truth. To show you that from the moment you drew your first breath, you were mine.//_

"Then you wasted your time."

_//Hardly. Even as an infant you delighted in making your mother cry. Your own sister recoiled from you in horror. By your own hand, you nearly killed the one who loved you the most. You shattered the heart of that poor, innocent girl who adored you. It was years before she allowed herself to love again, to trust someone else. Did you know your parents believed you capsized that ferry? Their very last thoughts were that their own son had murdered them.//_

"You also showed me that in spite of my flaws and crimes and inhumanity, in spite of how much I made them cringe, those who truly loved me stayed by my side through it all. I had to have had some worth to earn that kind of loyalty. You showed me my worst but not my best; you seemed to have neglected my friendship with His Majesty, for example. Perhaps as a boy I would have been happy to serve you, but little boys grow up, and hopefully they learn from their mistakes and learn to be better men."

A feeling then of rage, all-consuming and powerful and almost painful. He felt himself being pulled through darkness, turned inside out, and thrust once again into a bright, cold world. He gasped for breath, his fingers flexing, grabbing ahold of a warm, familiar hand thrust into his.

"Saphir…"

His hand was squeezed tightly. "Welcome back."

And for one of the very few times in his life, Jade wept.

_Post note:_

_Putting this at the end because I didn't want spoil anything. I have a very vague memory of reading somewhere that Jade dissected the family cat when it died. Whether this was in game or on a website or I'm just imaging it I don't know. If I have inadvertently ripped off someone else's fanfic, I sincerely and humbly apologize. _


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **

_Just a few random things to throw out today. I'm very unhappy with this chapter: I've rewritten it about three times and any way I do it just comes across as mostly filler and somewhat disjointed. More action in the next one, I promise. _

_1) This story is not going to end with Vilo not turning out to be Jade's child. There was no mistake on the test, Saphir didn't tamper with the results, and this isn't some trick of Lẽtum's part. He's really and truly Jade's. The story also will not end with Vilo dying. Jade's stuck with him for a long time…._

_2) Vilo is Jade's only child. There aren't any others lurking around in the woodwork anywhere. However, Vilo does have a half-sister, born when he was about 18 months old. His mother immediately gave her up for adoption, feeling that her life-style was a little too dangerous to raise a female child in. Vilo does not know he has a sister, and his sister will not be showing up in the story anywhere. It's just a piece of useless trivia. _

_3) The correct pronunciation of Vilo's name is Vy-lo. Rhymes with "silo". _

_4) Debated about this chapter long and hard because I'm really trying to keep Jade in character as much as possible and this is definitely out of character. I finally decided that everyone should be allowed to have one nice big breakdown at some point in their life. I apologize in advance for the OOCness. I'm also not trying to overrun the story with original characters, but I hope you'll indulge me in just one more. Dorthea Curtiss made herself aware to me recently and refuses to leave me alone. No one is just the total sum of themselves; the Curtiss family had a bigger impact on Jade than he cares to admit and there was no way to write a story about Jade without giving them their say. Dorthea's height is about 6'3._

**Chapter 18**

"Out! Now!" Saphir snapped, his hand still tight around Jade's. "All of you." The entire group had assembled behind him, everyone wanting to be there to see if Saphir's idea to awaken his lover actually worked, or if things were worse than they thought. Seeing Jade stir awake, look around, and then promptly burst into tears was the last thing anyone had expected."

"But…" Natalia tried to interject. "He's awake!"

"Now!" Saphir moved from the wooden chair he'd been glued to for the past three days and sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling his sobbing lover against his chest. "I'll handle it. Get out now or so help me you'll all pay!"

"Come on." Guy motioned for the others in the small group. "Do what he says."

_Jade would rather us see him dead than like this. _

For a long time neither Saphir nor Jade spoke; Saphir because whatever was wrong was beyond his words to fix, and Jade because once his self-imposed ban on tears had been broken it seemed impossible to stop. They'd been in this position together too many times to count, but before it had always been Jade offering the comfort and Saphir sucking it down. Only once had he ever seen Jade cry, and he'd been crying too hard himself at the time to be able to offer much help or support.

Only after Nebilim's death had Jade ever broken down like this.

Finally, the weeping stopped, but the man continued to shake in Saphir's arms, so much so that Saphir was becoming alarmed that whatever Lẽtum had done to him had damaged him mentally in some way. It was more like trying to comfort a child than a grown man.

"Jade…" He finally forced himself to speak. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, but what happened? What did it do to you?"

Jade pulled back, and couldn't meet his gaze at first, and Saphir could see that he was struggling to slip back into his comfortable façade. If he wanted the truth out of his lover, he'd better move quickly, but the wrong move would make Jade shut down completely.

"Well, really, wherever it was that you were can't possibly have been _that _bad. The rest of us had to be here in the real world, you know, tending to you while you just laid there like a useless carpet. They tried to give you a nurse; actually several of them volunteered for the job but I chased them all away. You required some rather intimate care and I wasn't about to let those shameless tarts get their greedy little hands on you." He shuddered. "One was extremely insistent on the matter. I'm afraid I had to resurrect Dist a bit to show her the error of her ways. I believe she's probably halfway to Chesedonia by now."

Jade burst out laughing, but he was still shaking a little bit. "How long was I out? And where am I?" The hospital room looked like any other hospital room might and told him nothing about his surroundings. It smelled the same too: chemicals and bodily fluids and other nasty things. He hated hospitals and refused to be ashamed of the irony in that. He had enough to be ashamed of realizing he was wearing nothing but a hideously thin blue medical gown.

"Belkend. It was closest, best equipped place we could think to bring you. We brought you here in the Albiore the night you collapsed."

Jade looked at Saphir for the first time since he'd woken up, really looked at him. The smaller man was a mess. His hair was greasy and matted to his skull, he desperately needed a shave, and he was wearing the same clothing Jade had last seen him in Sheridan. His bloodshot eyes were glazed from lack of sleep, and he smelled horrible. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to mind.

"Where's my son?"

"Asleep. You should be proud of him: I know I certainly am. He's handled this better than any of us." Saphir laughed. "Once I told him that I was sure I knew what was wrong and how to fix it, that was good enough for him. He went out and hunted down a couple of former 7th Fonists living in Belkend and started training them, and they're both able to heal a bit now. He was trying to hold out until you work up but he finally gave out about an hour ago."

"Sheridan…what happened?"

"Sheridan is fine. Guy and your friend Kratos and the others all went on a sight-seeing expedition in the Highlands while you were taking a nap and found the remains of some kind of beast. They believe it's what scared the other creatures into attacking the city, but whether Lẽtum killed it or they finally staged a rebellion who's to say. No reports of any trouble since there or anywhere else, but after today…we're all bracing ourselves."

"Today?" His mind was still murky and it was a struggle to organize his thoughts.

"Well, when our healers couldn't wake you up, it became evident that whatever was wrong was Lẽtum's doing, and related to your 8th Fon-slot. We sent word to Pea-Brain telling him that he needed to get us that Fon-Slot seal immediately, and then when it did get here I had to modify it just to seal your 8th slot and leave your other abilities in tact. Didn't think you'd appreciate the full treatment, although it would have been quicker. The moment I used it on you and broke his connection you came out of it."

At that moment the conversation was interrupted by a loud voice outside Jade's hospital room door. "I _said _I'm going in to see my Dad! Get out of my way before I kick you so hard your grandkids cry."

The door was shoved open and Vilo came stomping into the room, his eyes blazing. Guy followed helplessly behind. "Sorry, I couldn't stop him."

"It's okay." Jade spoke softly. "Let him stay. I'm alright now."

Guy paused and then shrugged, leaving and pulling the door shut behind him.

"About time you stopped goofing off and woke up." Vilo grumbled, approaching the bed. "You can't just go away and leave us to handle everything."

"My apologies. It really wasn't planned." Jade moved back to make room next to himself and Saphir, and Vilo climbed on the bed with them. "I hear you've been keeping busy, though."

"Somebody had to do something. They wouldn't let me go into the Highlands with them." Vilo shrugged one shoulder. "And I figured, nothing I could do to wake you up. That was his job." He gestured at Saphir with his thumb. "So I did what I could do. I still haven't managed to teach Natalia anything yet. She's pretty hopeless."

Jade started to answer, and the paused, his eyes fixed on something glittering around Vilo's neck. Something familiar… oh no. No…

"Vilo…where did you get that capacity core?" He asked very carefully. Saphir choked into his hand.

"Ummm, this old thing?" Vilo asked brightly. "Just…a friend."

"What friend?"

"Listen, you! I told you I am going in to see my son! Get out of my way immediately!"

"Saphir!"

"Why is this my fault? I didn't invite her!" Saphir snapped back.

The door opened again.

Dorthea Curtiss was easily 190cm tall, which was emphasized by the fact that her posture was ramrod straight, the result of years of military training. Everything was precise and in place: the creases in her blue uniform, every button polished to gleaming; the steel-gray hair pulled back into a tight bun. Black boots shined so brightly the entire ceiling was reflected in them. Although well over seventy, every move she made indicated someone who was not only used to being obeyed without question, but that she would never even consider it to be any other way. Behind her, trailing like a fat shadow, was Winston.

"Mother, really…." He was trying to calm her down. "We should…"

"Shut up, Winston." The woman snapped at him, and then turned the power of her presence on Jade. "Good. Excellent. Saphir appears to have known what he was talking about."

"Hello, Mother." Jade sighed. "What brings you here?"

"Of course I'm here; don't be silly. Hello, Vilo."

The boy grinned at her. "Don't worry, Grandmother. I already yelled at him for you."

"Well done. Go see if you can't find us some tea. I'm sure you father could use some as well."

"Yes ma'am." The boy slid off the bed, and gave Winston an evil look at he strolled by. The man flinched and drew back. His mother chuckled, and watched the boy until he was out of the room.

"Jade, you should be ashamed of yourself." Dorthea continued. "How could you be so heartless as to keep me away from my grandson?"

"Mother…" Jade seemed to fumble over his words; a rarity for them. "I simply thought…"

"Well, you thought wrong. Between them Winston here and Wendell have made me a grandmother five times and not a single one of those children has a two brain cells to rub together. At this point I'm so delighted to finally get one that does that I wouldn't care if you found him in a cabbage patch."

"Now really, Mother!" Winston was offended. "My children are…."

"Morons." His mother finished. "Total morons. Lovable morons, perhaps, but that doesn't change the reality of the situation. Jade's boy has unlimited potential."

"The brat attacked me!"

"He's assured me if he ever feels the need to do so again he'll wait until I'm there to see it."

"You gave him Father's old capacity core!"

"Of course I did. Edwin was a highly skilled 7th Fonist and the core has been sitting useless since he died. The boy might as well get some use out of it." She turned back to Jade. "How are you feeling?"

"Groggy, a bit." He shook his head, still trying to clear it. Everything had an oddly surreal feeling to it at the moment; he almost felt like he was still dreaming. "Mother, I'm sorry if I offended you."

"No, I understand your reasons." She moved closer and reached over to touch Jade's hand briefly. "However, I'll have you know that now that I have met him I fully intend to take a firm hand. Vilo has a brilliant military future ahead of him."

"He'll have difficulty accomplishing that over my dead body." Jade retorted. "My son has no interest in a military career. He's going to be Fon-Technician."

"We'll see." She folded her arms. "I can be extremely persuasive when need be."

"Mother, did you come here just to annoy me? Because you're succeeding admirably."

"Of course not. I was worried about you. You know at my age how fragile my heart is. I had to see for myself that you were alright."

Jade made a noise of derision. "I was under the impression granite lasted forever."

"Just so you know, I intend to stay in Belkend until you're up and around again, so don't think you're going to be rid of me so easily. You're too valuable to lose."

She turned around, and then paused and turned back. "Oh yes. I am well aware of the old adage that you can't take it with you. However, where my porcelain tea-set is concerned I damn well intend to try. So don't you even think about it."

"It's so good to see you've mellowed in your age, Mother."

She shook her head and her gaze fell on Saphir, who gave her his best glare.

"Oh, stop that. Your face is going to freeze like that and you're ugly enough. Don't let him do too much until he gets his strength back. He's not likely to listen to anyone else on the matter, including me."

"Madame, I assure you I am perfectly capable of fulfilling my duties!" He pulled himself upright, insulted. "I've been taking care of him most of my life. I do know how!"

"Jade, in the same vein order your servant to get some sleep. He hasn't shut his eyes since you fell ill. We tried to get him to rest and he insisted that it would violate the terms of his Bond to leave your side. A good master doesn't abuse the help, especially when loyal servants are so beastly hard to come by."

Saphir wasn't sure whether to be irritated that she still considered him nothing more than a servant, or flattered that she seemed to think he was a good one.

Vilo wandered back into the room, staggering under the weight of a huge tea-tray. "I'm back. Dad, everyone else really wants to talk to you but Guy is keeping them all out for now. I told them 'family only'. Hope that was okay. I think they were kind of insulted."

"That's more than okay. Thank you, Vilo. I'm not quite up to dealing with the masses yet."

The boy carefully poured the tea, handing Jade his black, Saphir's with honey and his grandmother's laden with milk and sugar. He offered none to Winston, who grumbled and poured his own, muttering something under his breath about ill-mannered urchins.

"How do you know how she likes her tea?" Jade asked suspiciously.

"I told you." Dorthea was smug. "Vilo and I are already friends."

"Grandmother says we can all move into Curtiss Manor." Vilo poured himself some tea, took a sip, made a face, and added a ton of sugar. "She says I should grow up somewhere more… fitting."

"There is nothing wrong with our house and no, we are not moving into the manor."

Vilo took another sip of tea, sulking. "I think I liked you better asleep. What were you dreaming about anyway? You kept talking about some weird stuff. At one point, you were talking like a baby. It was really bizarre."

Jade shook his head. "Someday I may tell you, but suffice it to say Lẽtum felt the need to take me on a stroll down memory lane as sort of a bonding experience. He wanted me to see for myself what a despicable person I've been since birth."

"Jade…" Saphir scooted closer to him. "I'm sorry…"

"No, it's alright. It was just… a bit to deal with. He neglected some rather interesting things, however, and I'm not sure why. Professor Nebilim's death, for example. Maybe because it was unintentional. Still, he showed me enough. Knowing you were reprehensible is one thing; it's another to be forced to relive it."

Winston had been quite for a moment, and then finally spoke up. "So it's blocked now, this Lẽtum thing. It can't get to you any more?"

"He's actually here now. It's just as Cantabile described, Saphir. I can sense his presence around me, but he can't actually communicate with me any longer. That has its disadvantages as well: it's not as if he can brag to me now about what he plans to do next, but I do like it much better than the alternative. Nothing else has happened?"

"Not a peep from anyone. I thought for certain he'd find some way to try and interfere with us using the Fon-slot seal. He had to have known what we were trying to do, but nothing at all. That's not very reassuring."

"Well, it's quiet for now which is all anyone can hope for." Dorthea put in. "Now I do believe you should reassure your companions that you're alright. They're quite a loyal bunch."

"Agreed. I suppose I'd better get it over with. Saphir, how is the new gentleman working out. Noah? I only met him briefly before I became…indisposed."

"Well enough I guess. Spends most of his time with Kratos and they spend most of their time by themselves. He was useful enough to the others on the Meggiora mission; seemed to know exactly where he was going. I can't say I completely trust him, but you seem to trust Kratos, and Kratos trusts him so that's enough for me."

"Dad? Can I ask you something? You can say no." Vilo put down his almost-full tea cup.

"What?"

"As long as things are quiet, and when you get a little better, can we go home? I know, I know, I wanted to go along with you guys but…I really kind of want to go home."

Jade picked up Vilo's cup and drained it in one gulp. "That is the most sensible thing I've heard so far today."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:**

_I've very recently started checking the Tales of the Abyss anime. I've been hesitant because it does change some key things in the game and I don't like the mental conflict that causes. However, I have come to a conclusion. I absolutely, totally, and completely adore Saphir's VA in the anime. The English VA in the game always annoyed me (he sounds vaguely like Dick Dastardly, to be honest): his voice in the anime sounds exactly the way I'd actually picture him speaking. So if you get a few minutes, check it out. Because in this story? That's his voice. He's also just adorable in general in the anime. When he's introducing himself to Luke on board the ferry he actually starts fluffing his hair and I swear to God he's flirting with him._

**Chapter 19**

As Jade had feared, Vilo's introduction into the Curtiss family did not exactly go smoothly. A carriage ride against broken cobblestones, led by a team of lame horses, was usually smoother.

Vilo had quite a few strikes against him in the eyes of the other Curtiss children. The first issue was the indisputable fact that not only was he wrong-born, but that his mother had earned their bread on her back. He was also the son of "Uncle Jade", who was no blood relation to them, deliberately forgot their names, and had never in anyone's recollection given anything but grey wool socks as birthday gifts. But the most unforgivable was that this uneducated little interloper had the audacity to stroll in and immediately become Grandmother's favorite. That was the last straw.

Given Vilo's pride and short fuse, this recipe had the potential to end in disaster all the way around, if it had not been for one glaring exception when the children closed ranks against their new cousin. An unexpected exception, who was managing to do the unthinkable and act as a calming force where Vilo was concerned.

Wendell Charles Curtiss Junior, called Charlie by his peers, was exactly as described by his grandmother: a lovable moron. Short, overweight, and with absolutely no interest at all in the high fashion and hunting parties that enchanted his siblings and cousins, he taken one look at Vilo and instantly appointed himself the younger boy's protector. If he couldn't make his family accept Vilo, he damn well wasn't going to let them abuse him either. And Vilo, who was at first suspicious of Charlie's friendly overtures, had become so attached to him now that the two were seldom apart.

"Behave yourself tonight." Jade was admonishing his son now as Vilo packed himself an overnight bag to take to Curtiss Manor with him. "I don't want to hear a single report of beds being short-sheeted or buckets of water over doorways. Peony should be ashamed of himself for teaching you those things."

"Don't worry, Uncle Jade." Charlie grinned over at him. "We've got much better stuff than that planned." At this point in time he was a smaller replica of his uncle Winston, but there was a spark about him that Winston and Wendell had always lacked, a kind of simple charm and humor.

Jade sighed and shook his head. In spite of his best efforts, he actually found himself liking this nephew. Not only because of his kindness to Vilo, but because he had a sneaking suspicion now that his own assessment of the boy's intelligence (along with everyone else's) might have been premature. Shortly after they'd returned from Belkend last month and Vilo had been formally introduced to his family, he'd overheard a conversation between the boys. Charlie had patiently been explaining to Vilo that his other cousins saw him as a barbarian, and punching their lights out wasn't exactly going to go a long way toward changing that opinion. What Charlie lacked in overall fundamental knowledge, he seemed to more than make up for in wisdom in Jade's opinion, and in the long run that was far more valuable.

"Oh, Charlie, I almost forgot. Happy 13th birthday." Jade thrust a wrapped package into his hands.

Charlie tested the weight of the gift carefully and gave Jade a perplexed look.

"It's not socks, I promise. Open it."

Still not entirely convinced, Charlie tore off the wrapper and made a noise of delight.

"Vilo tells me that you enjoy drawing, and that you've got a knack for it. I thought this might help."

Charlie was busy examining the charcoal, pencils, and expensive heavy paper the package contained. "Wow, thanks Uncle Jade! This is great!" He didn't add that his hobby had always earned him the scorn of the rest of the family, who couldn't understand for the life of them how sketching the family cat could possibly compare to the excitement of gossiping about the neighbors.

"Of course." Jade continued. "If you'd rather have the socks…"

Charlie pulled the box against his chest. "No, no, I have enough socks! I want this."

"Good. You can repay me by keeping a close eye on your cousin tonight."

"Do not worry, Master Jade. I will enforce strict discipline this evening." Willy promised.

"See, Uncle Jade? Willy's going to with us. Nothing to worry about."

The little robot had, on his own, taken Charlie under his metal thumb and was attempting to educate the older boy as well. At first Charlie had simply played along, but when his grades began to improve he'd began taking Willy's lessons to heart and it wasn't an uncommon sight now to see both boys outside in the garden pouring over text books as the robot droned on. It was the last thing Jade ever would have expected, but he had no complaints.

"Come on. We're going to miss the party." Vilo urged his cousin impatiently.

"Vilo, it's my birthday. I really don't think they'll start without me." Charlie pointed out calmly. "I hope they're not _that _rude."

"Go on, both of you. Have fun."

Vilo gave his father a smirk. "You just want to be alone with Saphir." Next to him, Charlie took a moment to process that and then blushed deeply.

Jade sighed in exasperation. "Keep that up and I'll arrange to have lots of alone time with him: I'll ship you off to the most horrible boarding school I can locate. One with nothing but gruel on the menu."

"No you won't. You'd miss me. You know you would. Besides, you know Saphir'd never let you do that." Vilo, unexpectedly, came forward and gave his father a quick hug. "Have fun tonight yourself."

Jade walked with the children and Willy to the gate, and stood watching as they disappeared down the road, chatting happily about their plans for the evening. It was somewhat bittersweet, actually. The more Vilo adjusted to the changes in his life, the more he became…distant wasn't the right word. He had a larger circle around him now than Jade and Saphir, a life of his own, and while Jade wouldn't deny him that life it was a reminder that before too long the son he'd only just found would fly away for good.

God, he really was becoming far too emotional in his old age.

He took a moment to enjoy the warm evening and the first stars appearing on the horizon before going back into the house. His only wish right now was that he could believe in the peace around him, trust it to last.

It had been a full month since he'd recovered from Lẽtum's…attack was the only way he could think of it, and they'd returned home to Grand Chokmah, and in that month everything had been completely and utterly calm. Not a single disaster anywhere; no monster invasions, unexpected heat-waves, or flashing colored lights to be found. And since that first day he hadn't felt the taint of Lẽtum's presence hovering around him, watching.

Jade wasn't stupid enough to believe for a second that the entity had simply given up and gone away. It was definitely planning something, but until that something happened there really wasn't anything anyone could do but wait. He had a theory that perhaps Lẽtum was also waiting; waiting for Jade's curiosity to get the better of him and have the Fon-slot seal removed so that they could talk about it. He was prepared to allow the beast to wait for an eternity before that happened. He would rather die than allow himself to be open again to Lẽtum and Lẽtum's attempts at bonding.

However, he wasn't about to let his worries about the future stop him from enjoying the present. This last month had been easily one of the best of his life and he was allowing himself to savor every moment of it. Who knew, after all, how many more moments he would have? Since returning from Belkend he'd dedicated himself to something he'd been meaning to do for a while now: doting shamelessly on his son and lover.

Saphir was easier to dote on. He was a man who loved and lived for his creature comforts. Jade had taken great pains long ago to introduce the maid's little son to the finer things in life and Saphir had been an avid and apt pupil. He'd learned to crave caviar, and the feel of silk against his skin, and old wine. Jade accepted the responsibility now for Saphir's expensive tastes and didn't mind indulging them. While he still wasn't ever going to be anyone's ideal romantic, noticing when his pet was about to run out of the costly bath oils he loved and remembering to purchase more seemed to suffice most of the time.

Vilo was a bit more of a challenge. There had been no silks or roe in his past and he'd never had even the slightest desire for either one. Where fancy clothing was concerned, Jade had decided it would simply be easier to cut out the middle man, rub the material in the mud himself, and rip it to shreds before presenting it to the boy. He'd actually done so once; the look of shock on Vilo's face had been priceless.

Even something as simple as going out to eat together as a family was something of a challenge. Predictably, the other customers in the restaurant would glare at Saphir (the idea of a convicted felon being allowed to dine out in public offending them deeply). Saphir would glare back. They'd respond with some kind of nasty comment. Then Vilo would notice and yell something rude back at them (once followed by a dinner roll to the side of a man's head before Jade could stop him) and the proprietor would start hinting loudly that perhaps they would like their food to go.

Jade's unexpected ally in his attempts to civilize Vilo was Dorthea. The elderly woman's affection for her grandson did not extend to unseemingly public behavior and "they were rude first!" held no weight with her. She'd taken it upon herself to hire the boy an etiquette tutor. Vilo was not pleased to learn that not only did Jade approve of this, but that his father was adamant that he actually attend the lessons and demonstrate what he'd learned.

"Who cares what fork you're supposed to use when?" Vilo had argued. "In the great grand scheme of things, does it really matter?"

"It matters if you want people to ever take you seriously." Saphir had shot back. "No one is ever going to trust the ideas of an inventor who can't even feed himself properly!"

Maybe it was silly the kind of things people judged you on, Jade thought now as he walked down the stairs into the basement lab. What clothing you wore, what fork you used, how you spoke, but silly or not it was a fact of life that to some people it was extremely important. He firmly believed that his boy had a bright future ahead of him, but knowing how to play the game would make things easier for him in the long run. He'd appreciate it someday, even if now all it served to do was annoy him.

"Well, Vilo's off for the evening." He sat down next to Saphir, who was busy taking notes on something. "He'll no doubt stay awake all night, eat way too many sugary snacks, and be a little beast when they return him in the morning. Hopefully in the interim he'll enjoy himself."

"Charlie is a good influence on him." Saphir glanced over at his lover briefly before going back to his notes. "I had so hoped to be able to detest the boy just based on his paternity, but I suppose there's a white sheep in every family. I'm pleased to see Vilo finally making friends."

"I thought for certain you'd be irritated that he's spending time with someone else." Jade teased. "He's not permanently glued to your side any longer."

"Of course I'm not irritated. He needs friends his own age; I'm not so selfish that I'd deny him that need. He still spends enough time with me that I'm satisfied. He loves me more."

Jade laughed. "Yes, I'm sure he does. Probably almost as much as I do." He added softly, reaching out to ghost his knuckles over Saphir's cheek.

Saphir glanced at him again in mild surprise. Those words didn't come easily to Jade: they never had and never would. He didn't mind any more: it made it more meaningful when the other man actually did deem to say it.

"What are you working on now?" Jade looked at the notes.

"Nothing important. Guy asked me to do some calculations on my anti-gravity device. He's still got his heart set on being able to use it on a larger scale. Don't worry: I have no intentions of testing it out again on your furniture."

"Well, if it's nothing important, and my furniture is safe, then leave it for the night. We have the house entirely to ourselves and I'd rather not waste it. I'll even make dinner."

Saphir pushed the papers aside. "Well, I'd be a fool to turn that down. What else do you have in mind?"

"I suppose you'll have to be patient and find out."

Saphir followed him upstairs and into the kitchen, where his attempts to assist Jade were impatiently shooed away. He finally gave up and settled down to wait, watching Jade throw together the spicy tofu curry that he loved so much. It wasn't his favorite dish, but if Jade was willing to cook then Saphir wasn't going to look an evening off in the mouth.

A full stomach and a few glasses of really good wine later, Jade was more than willing to move onto the next stage of their evening and Saphir had no objections to this either. He received another pleasant surprise when Jade ran a hot bath for both of them. The Colonel usually preferred showers. Ice cold showers, which Saphir had discovered by accident early in their relationship.

Hours later, as Saphir was laying in Jade's arms in the massive bed in the half-stage between awake and asleep, he found himself thinking it was a shame no one had ever come up with a way to use fomicry to duplicate a perfect evening. Because this one would have been the perfect candidate.

Jade reached up to stroke his hair. "Gald for your thoughts."

"Not worth that much right now."

"I've been doing some thinking." Jade glanced over at him. "Remember when I told you I had no desire for another child?"

"Of course."

"Well, it strikes me that I don't really have the right to make that decision for you as well. You've been wonderful with Vilo. Do you want one of your own? We can arrange that easily enough if you do."

Saphir sighed and rubbed the side of his face against Jade's shoulder. "No, not really. It's not that I don't appreciate the offer, but…it wouldn't exactly be fair to a child. Wherever Vilo goes, whatever he does, he's going to have your reputation to live up to. For him, that's not a bad thing. He'll be expected to do great things. I can't imagine giving a child the burden of my legacy to overcome. Even his simplest mistakes would be blown out of proportion."

"But you'd still like to have one." Jade pressed. "I can hear it in your voice."

"What I'd like doesn't matter. I'm a criminal; I couldn't even take my child out for a walk down the street without an escort. No, Jade, as long as you're willing to share Vilo with me then that's enough. It's more than I ever though I'd have."

Jade considered arguing the point with him a bit more, and then decided to let it go for now. Frankly, he was surprised himself by the strange desire he had to see what Saphir's child would be like. Of course it wasn't his decision to make, but it didn't mean he couldn't have a strong opinion on the matter. All of Saphir's points were perfectly legitimate and valid and in his position Jade might well feel the same way. However, from his point of view those objections had lots of work-around room.

He kissed his partner on the forehead. "Ah well, it was just an idea. If you change your mind let me know."

"Don't need a kid." Saphir muttered. "Just need you and Vilo."

Jade tilted his chin up and kissed him again, this time on tip of his nose. "Well, we're yours completely and totally, love. Always."

*****************************

"Are you alright?"

Noah, who had been standing with his arms on the rail of the ferry, glanced back at Kratos. "Is it that obvious?"

"You've barely said a word all evening." Kratos moved to stand next to him, staring down into the churning black water.

"It's about to start again." Noah's hair blew back around his head. "I just don't know when or where, but I can feel it. It's like this stink, in the air. I can't describe it better than that."

The two men stood in silence for a moment. "Have you thought about what I said earlier?" Kratos probed. "My request?"

"I'd never be selfish enough to tell you not to do it. Not if that's what you want, but understand my position. You were my master: you're still my dearest friend. You can't ask me to do it for you."

"Noishe…" Kratos started, but the other man held up his hand. "No, Kratos. If you want to die then do it by your own hand, but it won't be by mine."

"There's no one else I would trust." Kratos's words were almost drowned out by the water.

"Then again, do it yourself. I won't be a party to it."

Kratos sighed. "I thought you'd take this stance. I believe I liked it better when you obeyed my commands without question."

Noah laughed and reached over, squeezing his shoulder. "Sometimes I miss those days too. Then I remember when I had no shame about relieving myself in someone's front yard and it passes. You know that when you go, I can't go with you, right? My job isn't done yet."

"I know."

"Whatever you decide, know that I'll always carry on in your memory. And Lloyd's, and everyone else we've loved over the years. You won't be forgotten, even if no one but me ever remembers you were more than a fairytale."

Against the hull of the ferry, the waves began to pound harder, the spray soaking both men to the bone. In the distance, they could see the port lights of Grand Chokmah, partially blocked now by the rising water.

It was starting.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:**

_In most fics and fan-arts I've seen, our buddy Saphir has violet eyes. Now I've got nothing against violet eyes: they're very pretty. However, I can see no evidence of this in the game. In fact, if you pull up his childhood picture in the character book at Tear's house, his eyes are sort of medium to dark brown. So yeah, brown eyes for this story. Sorry, Saphir. Go buy some colored contacts or something. _

_I've been working on building the characters from this story in "The Sims 2" for purposes of having some pictures to go along with what I'm talking about. I have a pretty decent Saphir right now (I found this perfectly awful purple suit with a pink undershirt) and an okay Vilo. My problem is Jade; I've managed to find the right hair style for him but not the right color. My choices are too dark or too red; right now his hair has way too much red in it but it's as close as I can come. (On the other hand, the red eyes I found are amazing). As soon as I built the house, Saphir started dancing around with Vilo. I guess they must like it… _

**Chapter 20**

"_Hey, Virgil. Wake up, brat. You're drooling all over your notes." _

_The young man snapped awake, blinking rapidly and staring around the small room for a moment as if he couldn't quite remember where he was. "Wha…"_

"_You fell asleep at your desk. What am I going to do with you, huh? I'm supposed to be taking care of you, remember? Are you trying to make me look bad?" The older man sat down on the edge of the desk and shook his head in mock disgust. _

"_Sorry…I must have dozed off." Virgil rubbed with the back of his knuckles at his eyes. "What time is it?"_

"_Nearly time for breakfast. You should grab a shower first; you're a little ripe right now. But don't take too long: you'll end up with barely warm oatmeal again."_

"_Thank you, Big Brother. Your support is always appreciated." The boy stood up and stretched, cracking his back, and glaring at his tormenter. Unfortunately, the dormitory room was so small that there really wasn't anywhere to stomp away to. Barely enough room for his bed and bureau and shelves. The bigger rooms went to the 3__rd__ and 4__th__ year students. Those in their first and second years had to make do with glorified closets._

_His brother laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, his eyes sparking with mischief. "You know I'm always honored to be of service."_

"_How in the world did you ever survive this?" The boy was aware that he was whining but didn't care. "I thought it was going to be…"_

"_Easy? Yeah, you genius types are all the same when you get here. Never had to crack a book to learn anything; it all just kind of falls into your brain. As soon as you realize we actually expect you to study something, half of you run screaming for home in the first year." _

"_I am not going to run screaming for home, as you so eloquently put it." The boy was insulted. "If you could make it so can I."_

"_It gets better after the first year. I was always writing long, whiny letters back home to the folks, totally convinced I'd made the mistake of my life. My father would write back something short and boring and dry about how I'd made a commitment. Yours would write me a four page letter calling me every name in the book and demanding I not 'shame him'. I usually figured it was just safer to stay here than go back and face them if I gave up."_

_He reached out and ruffled his younger brother's pale hair, and the boy slapped his hand away. "Besides, I had to gut it out alone. You've got me. I'm not going to let you fail. Belkend's beat us the last two years in a row at the tourney; everyone's counting on you to turn the tide."_

_The boy sighed and started gathering up his bathing supplies from a wall shelf. "Which means if I let everyone down…"_

"_You worry too much, Virg. You always over-think everything. It's okay to just relax and have fun now and then. Why did you pick Sheridan over Belkend, huh? Real reason. And if you tell me that it was because I'm here I'll be flattered, but I won't believe you."_

_Virgil didn't answer at first; he just stood there with his hand on a fluffy white towel. His brother continued. "When you asked your father what the difference between Belkend and Sheridan was, what did he tell you?"_

"_Belkend is for those who have their feet on the ground. Sheridan is for the dreamers." The boy quoted._

"_Right. Now you had your choice; both academies were almost wetting themselves trying to sign you up. Everyone thought that serious little Virgil was going to go with Belkend, and bam, you didn't. You came here. And no one could figure out why. Except for me, of course."_

"_Oh, enlighten me please, Big Brother." Virgil shoved a well-used bar of soap into a cloth bag and mockingly bowed in the man's direction._

"_Because you're a dreamer too; you just don't want anyone to know. Belkend was going to make you follow the rules and Sheridan will let you make up your own. I'm glad you picked us, Virg. You'd have been bored silly across the bridge. Just ease up, enjoy yourself. And listen to your favorite professor. If you doze off in my class this afternoon I'll have to throw something at your head. Again."_

"_You're nearly thirty. Shouldn't you be outgrowing this urge to throw things any day now?" Virgil snatched clean clothing out of his dresser and shoved it into the bag as well with no regard whatsoever for the condition it might be in when he retrieved it. His brother winced, imaging the lecture the boy would receive if his father could see him right now. _

"_One would think." The man agreed. "Feeling better?"_

"_A little bit. I'm not going to run off, I promise. Just as long as I can cry on your shoulder or something when it gets to be too much." He put down the bag and walked forward, giving the older man a quick hug. "Thanks, Vilo."_

Vilo sat up in bed, startled.

In the other bed, he could hear Charlie snoring loudly, and it took him a second to remember that he was in Curtiss Manor, spending the night after his cousin's birthday party. Outside, he could hear one whopper of a storm throwing rain against the thick, bubbled glass of Charlie's window.

What the heck kind of dream was that? He was…old. Really old. The kid said he was almost thirty. The kid, Virgil? Well, sort of a kid; he was older than Vilo was now; he looked about sixteen.

_He looked like Saphir. I mean, not exactly like him, but sort of like him. His eyes were brown, like Saphir's, and his hair was the same color. He kind of acted a little bit like him too. Except for the clothes thing._

_Was that the future? Was I reading some kind of Score in my sleep or something? Of course not, that's stupid. I just ate too much of Charlie's birthday cake. Saphir doesn't want any kids; he's told me so. _

_Still, it wasn't a bad dream. I guess I was some kind of big-shot teacher in Sheridan. That wouldn't be so terrible. Silly, though. Me, a teacher? Virgil seemed kind of down; he was probably homesick. He didn't sound like he'd been at school very long. He probably was really missing his Dad. Probably my Dad as well since if Saphir had a kid my Dad would help raise him. _

_I liked him; he looked like he really could use a big brother to look after him. He was pretty puny, like Saphir is. He must have gotten picked on about it. If I had a little brother, I'd make no one ever picked on him. I'd always look out for him, especially if he was all little and a book-worm because everyone always wants to beat up those guys._

Vilo lay back down on the spare bed, staring up at the ceiling, which he could just about make out in the pre-dawn light. Maybe if he went back to sleep he'd continue where he left off. He wanted to learn more about this 'tourney' his ancient self had mentioned, and maybe question Virgil a little more about the circumstances of his birth. If he was sixteen and Vilo was almost thirty, then there wasn't a whole lot of time to waste getting him here. As much as he struggled with math, even Vilo could do the numbers on this one.

"Okay, Little Brother." Vilo muttered. "You want to be born? Help me out here. Tell me how to talk Saphir into it."

He was almost asleep again when quiet of the early morning was disturbed by a loud bell tolling in the distance. What the heck?

Charlie muttered something in his sleep and then bolted upright. Outside the door of the room Vilo could hear people moving around now, talking in loud voices.

"Vilo, get dressed!" Charlie was already on his feet, grabbing his clothes. "Now."

"What?" The younger boy moved to obey automatically. "What's going on?"

"That's the flood bell! Come on. We have to get upstairs. I hope it's just a drill but they usually let us know ahead of time." The boy rapidly finished buttoning his shirt, the buttons in every other hole but the ones they were supposed to go in. His brown hair was sticking up at all angles on the top of his head and he would have looked silly if it wasn't for the serious look on his face.

Vilo finished shoving his feet into his shoes (which happened to go on the right feet by shear accident), and followed Charlie out into the hall, where it was chaos. Maids were running back and forth carrying expensive pieces of art-work; Winston was standing there with his robe open, underwear exposed for all to see, barking orders in every direction (and generally being ignored). Wendell, who looked almost exactly like Winston (except with a little less gut and a little more hair), was staggering under the weight of a half-grown rappig.

"Dad!" Charlie hurried over to him, dragging the still-dazed Vilo by the hand. "What's happening?"

"No one knows. Just that it's not a drill; the outer areas are already under water! Get upstairs, both of you!"

"Victoria!" Charlie's younger sister was howling from near the top of the stairs. "I can't find my Victoria! I'm not going anywhere without my Victoria!"

"I've got your bloody Victoria!" Wendell shouted over at her, gesturing toward the rappig with his chin. "Charlie…"

"Got her, Dad." Charlie grabbed the little girl with his free hand and started dragging her toward the upper staircase. "Stop crying, twit!"

"I'm telling Mother!" His sister dug in her heels.

Charlie let out a roar of rage and dropped Vilo's hand. He grabbed his sister bodily and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring the plump fists beating against his back. "I hate you, Charlie! I hate you!"

"Yes, well, aren't I the lucky one?" Charlie muttered, huffing up the stairs under his burden. "Vilo, you don't know how fortunate you are to be an only-lonely. So help me if Terrance can't figure out how to make it up here on his own he can damn well drown." At the mention of her twin, ten-year-old Theresa began beating Charlie again in earnest. "You want Terrance to die!"

"At the moment… Vilo, where are you going? Get back here!" Charlie yelled. Vilo had suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and ran back down the hall. A moment later he reemerged, holding Willy in his arms. "Sorry…can't leave him."

"Master Vilo is too kind." Willy muttered. He didn't sound particularly pleased to have been forgotten about in the first panic.

They finally reached the top of the stairs and a large room mostly used for parties. Charlie sat Theresa on her feet, where she immediately spied Terrance huddled weeping in a corner and took off toward him at full tilt. Near the window, Vilo saw his other two cousins (Winston's children) fussing to themselves as if the city had decided to flood just to make their lives miserable.

A look out the window himself showed him nothing but a lot of rain. Except for all of the people running around everything looked okay, like any other morning. If there was flooding, it hadn't reached them yet.

"Do you think my Dad and Saphir are okay?" He asked Charlie now, with a rush of guilt that this was the first he'd thought of them. "Our house just has one floor."

"Don't know." Charlie was nothing if not honest. "Does Uncle Jade know how to swim?"

"I guess so. I mean, I think so, but…that's not funny, Charlie."

"Wasn't meant to be funny." Charlie sat down in the window and tugged Vilo down next to him. "Sorry. I think they'll be okay. Uncle Jade's too smart to just sit there and drown, right?"

"Maybe." Vilo appeared to be lost in thought about something.

"Vilo, so help me if you even think of going out to go find them I'll…" Charlie paused, trying to think of something truly horrible. "I'll tell Grandmother you want tap-dancing lessons but you're too embarrassed to ask. She used to tap-dance; she's tried to get every single one of us interested and we're all abysmal. See if I don't!"

Vilo winced at his cousin's ruthlessness. He knew that his father had lived here until moving into the smaller house for Saphir's sake. Obviously, unknown to Jade, he'd had a bigger influence on this particular member of his family than he realized.

"We'll be okay. Trust me. Everyone prepares for stuff like this, even though it hardly ever happens."

"I was fourteen the last time." Came a dry voice behind them. "I recall that I actually enjoyed it. My mother caught me swimming across the parlor, however, and wasn't amused."

Dorthea chuckled at the memory. "Vilo, if I thought for a moment your father was in any danger I'd be out there in a boat right now to fetch him. Come have breakfast with me; I distinctly heard something about…tap-dancing?"

_Dad, you better be okay. You have to get me out of here!_

***************************

Jade was adorable when he slept, although pointing this out was tantamount of suicide in most cases. While the other man was willing to tolerate quite a bit from his lover, he firmly drew the line at being cute.

Sometimes, in his darker moments, Saphir became convinced that the last few years of his life were a dream; that in reality he was holed up in some prison hospital ward, in a beating-induced coma. If this was the case, he hoped that by now he'd been long forgotten and no one had any bright ideas to try and wake him up. He was perfectly content to go on dreaming.

Jade was laying face down next to him. As if sensing Saphir's thoughts, he opened one eye, blazing red in the semi-darkness of the room, like an animal peering out of a lair. Hopefully, Jade wouldn't mind that analogy; he'd never voiced any objection to being considered sinister, after all.

"What?" Saphir muttered finally, when Jade neither spoke nor moved, just continued to stare at him.

"I'm trying to make a decision here. A rather important one, so I need a moment."

He was quiet for another minute, then "Alright. I've made up my mind. Kitchen table it is. Get up."

"Now hold on one minute! I never agreed to… stop that!" He smacked Jade's hand away as the other man was attempting to drag him off the bed.

Before Jade could respond, there was a loud clanging from outside the window.

"Is that the…"

"Move! Now!" Jade grabbed clothing at random and threw it at him. "We need to get to higher ground."

"What if it's just a false alarm?" The question sounded ridiculous even to Saphir, and Jade didn't even bother answering him. Saphir dressed quickly, not caring that the shirt was Jade's and was far too big on him.

"Did you ever learn how to swim?"

"No…"

"Damn. Stay close to me. If you drown I'll never forgive you."

"Well, it wasn't on my list of things to do this morning." He followed Jade through the house, the sleeves of the shirt hanging over his wrists. "Jade, what about Vilo?"

"He'll be fine. The Manor was designed to survive this kind of thing. I'm more worried about us right now." Jade had arrived at the front door and punched out the security code. "Saphir, I meant what I said about staying close. If people start to panic…"

"They'll go looking for someone to blame it on. I know."

Jade opened the front door. The entire grounds were already under ankle deep water. "Come on." He called above the noise of the pouring rain. "Follow me. We should be able to make it to the Manor before it gets much worse."

The two men kept their heads down as much as possible against the torrent, running at first and then changing to a staggering wade as the water became deeper. Saphir, not used to this sort of thing, was gasping for breath within minutes, his side burning from the exertion.

Vilo, he had to reach the manor and Vilo. Logically he knew that the boy was alright, was probably even perversely enjoying this, but it gave him something to focus on. Once they were safe inside and he could see for himself that Jade's son was fine, then he could relax.

They reached the edge of the walkway, and the water was up to their knees now. Jade was literally pulling him along through the water now, and through the thick downpour Saphir could make out the ugly bulk of Curtiss Manor ahead of them. Never in a million years would he have ever expected to be glad to see the place.

Something caught the corner of his eye then through the gloom. His glasses were so wet he had to look over the top of them to make out what it was.

"Jade!"

It was all he could get out before a wall of water taller than the tallest building in Grand Chokmah broke over them, sweeping Saphir off of his feet. He could see, dimly, Jade reaching for him and heard the other man shouting something. He tried to reach back, but the water scooped him away, over the edge of the drop-off, and out into the black, swirling ocean beyond.

Then there was nothing.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **

_Go into the Cheagle tree and look near the save point. There is a pink cheagle standing there. If you speak with it, first it replies "…." And then "Mieu…". This cheagle always intrigued me. What was it thinking? Why was it so cynical? It just seemed to have a bit of an edge to it, in spite of being pink and adorable. I decided to appropriate it. I shall call her Max, and she shall be mine…And I do have to apologize to anyone who finds cheagles insanely annoying. Like Tear, I think they're too cute for words and…I enjoy irony. _

_Also…I like Peony. I feel very bad about what happens to him here, but…he really needs to remember who Vilo's father is. _

_As always, thank you so much to those who have been reading so far. I've really enjoyed being given a chance to tell this story and you guys are fantastic for taking the time to read it._

**Chapter 21**

No one knew about the photograph.

It wasn't that Peony was ashamed to have it; he would have happily shared it with anyone who asked. It was simply he didn't think anyone would be interested in it except for himself. It had been so long ago, and who really remembered all the pictures taken of themselves? Peony didn't even remember now who had taken the photograph; some assistant of the professor's, perhaps.

Jade was in the middle, in front of Professor Nebilim, who had one hand on his shoulder (in appearance of affection but in reality because she was determined that he actually be in the photograph; he'd kept conveniently vanishing every time she brought up the subject). He was gracing the camera with a half-smile, trying to portray the image of someone who was humoring the professor and really had no interest at all in this kind of nonsense.

Saphir was next to him, crowded as close as he could get without actually blocking Jade out of the photo. His white hair was longer in those days, and in the picture blended at points with the snow on the front of the building. His smile was genuinely happy, although it probably had more to do with Jade's proximity than any delight over being preserved for posterity. His brown overcoat, a cast-off of Jade's, was way too big on him and hung down to his knees.

On Jade's other side was Peony himself, the prince-in-merchant-son clothing, who was just happy to be out of the mansion and in the cold sunlight on that day. Right before the picture had been taken he'd thrown an arm around Jade's shoulders, and Jade had rather rudely shrugged him off. The ice cycles in Saphir's glare had rivaled any hanging on the buildings around them. Part of the reason Peony had done it, in fact, was just to annoy the younger boy.

_We always knew exactly how to get each other riled up. All I had to do was remind him that Jade liked me too. All he had to do was remind me that he and Jade spoke the same language, one that I would never be able to understand. And in the middle of it all, there was Jade, just smiling like a maniac and enjoying every bit of it._

_Saphir…why, man? Jade called you a cockroach because you always managed to survive whatever came you way. Why now?_

Peony signed and slid the picture back into his pocket and walked over to the window, staring out at the streets of Grand Chokmah. The water was drained, but the damage remained. Some homes had been completely destroyed by the water; Jade's little cottage among them. Virtually all of the ones who had survived were still pretty heavily damaged.

St. Binah, Engeve, and even Baticul had opened their doors to the survivors, but most of the citizens had stayed where they were, living in the remains of their homes or with those who were a bit luckier, and everyone had pulled together to try and rebuild their city in the aftermath of what had happened. It was a beautiful thing, really, and he'd never been prouder of the people of Malkuth than he was at this time. Still…at last count over four thousand people hadn't made it to this point. Most of the bodies were still uncounted for.

_Saphir… your family is falling apart without you, man. Jade and Vilo need each other more than ever right now and they're barely speaking. The little guy is so sure you're alive, so adamant about it. He just keeps talking about this dream he had and that he knows you're okay somewhere. And Jade…Jade's been like a zombie since it happened. He hardly says a word; just leaves in the morning to help with the clean-up. He can't take Vilo's faith, and Vilo gets so angry with him for doubting. As far as he's concerned Jade should be out there turning over every rock in Auldrant to find you._

_I'm really worried about Jade. I'm afraid he's going to do something stupid like try and go after L__ẽtum alone. He keeps having these private little meetings with Kratos and that Noah guy, and he won't tell me what they're talking about. I was so worried I told him I was making it an Official Order that he not try and remove the Fon-slot seal. The last thing we need is for __L__ẽtum to take him down again. I know he wants revenge, but that's not the way to get it… I've got them both living here with me on the upper floor of the palace. Bet you never thought my room could be more of a disaster than it already was, but the bottom part is pretty wasted. I can just picture you walking through here, looking down your nose at it, and demanding to know how Perry's holding up. He's fine, by the way. He lead the others to safety, in fact. You'd be so proud of him…_

_I miss you. Never thought I'd say that, but it's true. _

There was a knock on the door of the spare chamber Peony and his pets had chosen to hole up in.

"It's open. Hey, Vilo. How are you doing?"

The boy stood still for a moment, staring at Peony from eyes way too old for his face. Poor kid, the Emperor thought to himself. First his mother, and now this. Two parents in one year…possibly three if we can't stop Jade from going off the deep end. The boy was wearing some spare clothing his cousin Charlie had outgrown and it was too big on him; it reminded Peony too much of Saphir in the photograph and he had to blink rapidly_. _

_Not only has he lost Saphir, but everything else he owns as well. At least the clothes and toys we can replace._

"Hey, Peony…" Vilo never called him "Your Majesty" and Peony never expected him to. "You got a minute?"

"For you, always. Come sit down."

"Nah, it's okay. I need to ask you something…well, I need to ask you something and then I need to ask you for a really strange kind of favor. It's okay if you say no." The boy was looking down, toeing the carpet with the tip of his boot. Gelda wandered over and head-butted his leg, and he smiled, reaching down to scratch her ears.

"Ask away."

Vilo looked up at him again. "Do you really think Saphir's dead? I mean, really?"

"Vilo…we used to call him the cockroach because he could survive anything. I know that sounds cold, but it's the truth. Nothing ever was too much for him; he was a lot tougher than he looked. But this…a lot of people think if he's alive he used this as a chance to escape from Malkuth custody. I don't. Kiddo, I think he's gone, and I know you don't want to hear that, but it's been a week. If he was alive I think he'd have found his way back to us by now. He'd never have stayed away from you and Jade voluntarily; he's nuts about you guys. You know that better than I do."

Vilo nodded reluctantly and blinked a few times. "So…anyway, that brings up the favor I need. See, Saphir and I spent a lot of time together and we talked a lot. Sometimes he told me about when he was a God-General and he told me all about his chair, how much he liked it, how easy it was to control, how much fun he had in it. I wanted to see it too, and right before he.." Vilo make a choking noise. "Anyway, he said he'd talk to you and see if you'd let me go for a ride in it, just for a few minutes. And I keep thinking that he never got the chance, and maybe…maybe it might be a way I could…you know…say good-bye…" Vilo's control broke and he began sobbing loudly.

His heart breaking, Peony pulled the boy into a tight hug. "Hey, it's okay. We'll go right now. The room it's in survived the water okay and it should be fine. I've got nothing planned for the afternoon. Come on."

Vilo sniffed and nodded. "Thanks. I know you guys fought a lot but I think he actually liked you. I don't know why, I just kind of feel like he did. He was trying anyway."

"Well, I liked him too. Let's go find that chair."

********************************

The Emperor and the boy stood in the grass outside of Malkuth Military headquarters, the ugly chair in front of them. One of the nice benefits about being the one in charge was that you could order people to carry ugly chairs outside for you; the two soldiers Peony had drafted to the job might have disagreed, but had been wonderfully obedient in the matter.

"I've never been able to figure out exactly what to call the color." Peony finally spoke. "Sort of an orangish, rosy, rust…nah, that's not exactly it. Beats me. I always wanted to take a spin it in myself, but I figured he'd go through the roof if he found out. At least once a month he writes…wrote me a letter demanding I return it. I've still got them somewhere."

Vilo nodded absently, and walked over to the chair, sitting down, his legs sticking out over the end. It was of course way too big for him, like the clothing he wore. "And you're sure you know how to work it?" Peony inquired.

"Sure I'm sure. Saphir told me all about it. I just use my fonon frequency to make it move. See?" The chair rose gracefully into the air in front of Peony, and then spun around a few times. "Neat. No wonder he liked it so much."

Peony watched the child zip around in Dist's old throne for a few more minutes. "Okay, you better come down now. I don't know how your Dad is going to feel about this."

Vilo paused, with the chair hovering a few feet above Peony's head. The look on his face was peculiar, regretful but determined. "I'm sorry, Peony. I hope Dad doesn't get too mad at you."

"Well, I'm sort of hoping he doesn't find out. Come on down now."

"Sorry, no can do." Vilo shook his head. "You and Dad may have given up on Saphir, but I haven't. If you won't go find him, I'll do it myself. Sorry I had to trick you like this."

"Trick me…Vilo, what are you talking about?"

"I'll be back as soon as I find him. Tell Dad I love him, and not to worry." Vilo raised his right hand and waved, and then the chair took off into the distance like a cork from a bottle.

"VILO!" Peony ran after it. "VILO, YOU GET BACK HERE! THAT IS AN ORDER FROM YOUR EMPEROR!"

But the boy was long past hearing him.

********************************

Jade stood up from the sodden mess at his feet, his back cracking in protest. In front of him were two piles; things that could be salvaged from the remains of the home and things that could not. The second pile was much larger.

The walls were completely gutted and removed, only bits and pieces of the framework remaining. The basement lab was still completely filled with water, all of the gadgets and inventions and research drowned well beyond salvaging. The room where the library had been was shambles of torn and damaged books. Irony of ironies, the new sofa from the living room was completely missing, washed away by the flood. He couldn't think too long on that without struggling not to laugh and cry at the same time.

He knelt down again as a flash of color caught his eye, and picked it up, wincing at the smell of mildew that assaulted him. A bathrobe; blood-red and satin.

"_It's beautiful…"_

"_I thought of you when I saw it. Not exactly my style of course, but you're always complaining about being cold. I swear there are times I could set the house ablaze and you'd still complain about the chill in the air."_

_  
"Very funny, but I'll forgive you. This is too lovely of a gift for me to be mad at you about anything right now."_

"_Hmmm, I'll keep that in mind…"_

He forced himself back to the present with a mental slap. He had a job to do. He had to see what he could find to save out of this mess, for Vilo's sake if not for his own.

"Jade! Jade, thank goodness I found you!"

He turned around to see Peony running toward him at full tilt. For just a moment, he let himself hope. Maybe…no, the look on the Emperor's face was anything but joyful.

"Jade, I'm sorry. It's Vilo…he flew away!"

"My son did what?" Jade asked very calmly, staring at Peony as if he was waiting for the punchline any moment now.

"Flew away! I told you! He flew away! I couldn't stop him!" Peony was gasping for breath and nearly hysterical, which for the laid-back man was something of an accomplishment. Peony prided himself on staying calm when at all possible. This appeared to be a special occasion.

"Vilo…does not know how to fly." Jade tried to wrap his brain around what Peony was saying, and was failing miserably.

"In the chair! He took the damn chair!"

"What chair?"

"Saphir's chair. He wanted to see Saphir's chair; he said he wanted to say goodbye to him and we had the chair taken outside and then he said he was going go look for Saphir if we wouldn't and then he flew away! I'm sorry, Jade! I thought it might help him…"

"You allowed an 11-year-old to manipulate you?" Jade's voice was rising slightly.

"It was your 11-year-old!"

"Exactly why you should have been suspicious! You know how much he wanted to believe that Saphir…" Jade stopped, and Peony could see him struggling for control.

"Relax. He can't be far. We'll get the Albiore up and go after him. Jade, we'll find him."

_Please let us find him. Please let him be alright because Jade can't handle losing both of them. _

***************************************

It was about a week into her epic adventure that Max started thinking maybe she'd made a mistake.

It had sounded like so much fun before she left the woods and went off in search of romance, excitement, and glory. Everyone loved to hear Mieu talk about _his_ epic adventure; all the things he'd seen and done; all the interesting people he'd met along the way. The Elder was always praising him for his bravery and telling all of the little cheagles that they needed to strive to be just like Mieu when they grew up.

Frankly, it got a little stale after a while.

So, bored with sitting around and listening to Mieu crow about his achievements ("And then I flew Master up onto a tree branch!" and "Then I helped Master with his homework") Max had decided enough was enough. If Mieu (whom she had always thought was a little soft in the head) could go out and have an epic adventure then so could she.

Of course, she hadn't really taken into consideration that Mieu's adventure was in the company of humans. Big, strong, well-armed humans who could fight off monsters that might find cheagles tasty, and who could be counted on to feed you on a regular basis. Lighting out alone, with only your own (admittedly powerful) fire-breath to protect you, was a lot more difficult. So far she'd been lucky; the monsters around here weren't very tough and most of them were scared of fire, but she was starting to think that maybe, just maybe it was time to head back. Or find a group of adventurers in need of a cheagle's help, but there really weren't that many of those around.

Plus, she was getting a bit tired of the vegetation that grew in Runica Plains area. Not that it was bad…just that there wasn't a lot of variety. Maybe there would be something a little more appetizing closer to the water. She carefully moved through the tall grass, following her nose toward the shoreline.

Well, there was something near the water, and it wasn't better grass. A group of smaller monsters were crowded around something laying face-down on the shore, sniffing it carefully, trying to make up their minds about whether or not it looked delicious.

Max turned to leave with a shudder. Hopefully they'd fill up on the whatever and if they happened upon a lonely little cheagle later on they'd be too full to care.

The lump on the shore groaned, and Max turned back, startled.

It was a human. Well, it looked like a human, anyway. A soaking wet man covered in salt and slime and now probably monster drool. The creatures sniffing him backed away at the noise, but when it wasn't repeated returned again, considering their options.

Max had seen enough. Pulling herself up to look as intimidating as possible she bounced forward and let out a stream of hot flames at the creatures. They turned on her, startled, and she let out another burst. At that, they turned on their claws and ran.

Cautiously she moved forward, cursing her stupidity in not snatching the Sorcerer's Ring before heading out. "Hey, you! Human! Are you okay?" was what she intended to ask. Of course, it came out "Mieeeu!! Mieeuee Mieeeu!"

The man groaned again, and made kind of a sick, whimpering noise.

Max considered her options right now. She could run off and try and find other humans to help, but it was doubtful they could understand her enough to know what she was trying to tell them. Plus, he didn't look safe to leave alone. They were so fragile, Mieu had always said, very easily broken, and this one looked pretty broken. He also looked cold. His teeth were chattering like crazy.

Well, that she could solve, anyway. She hopped away and began gathering up dry sticks and branches, throwing them into a pile. When she was satisfied with the size of the heap, it only took a quick breath to catch it aflame.

The man turned his face toward the blaze, and whimpered again.

Max patted him on the hand in comfort, all she could think to do. "Mieeuuu?" His skin was clammy and cold under her fingers. Poor thing, probably wouldn't live through the night, she thought sadly. Some cheagles could use the 7th Fonon but she'd never had any luck with it.

Well, at least she could make sure he didn't die alone. She snuggled up closer to him, ignoring the damp against her fur. He seemed to like that, inching closer to her warmth.

His steady breathing and the flames of her fire were making her sleepy. She tried to stay awake and keep watch in case the monsters came back, but her eyes kept drooping closed. Oh, well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to rest for a minute.

When she woke up again it was dark, and the fire was nearly out. The human was still alive, still managing to hang on somehow. He made another whimpering noise when she got up and stretched her legs, but she ignored him and found more sticks and leaves for the fire, only settling back down when it was blazing again.

As the little cheagle and the broken human slept, some monsters did creep up on them, but the smell of the fire and the smoke kept them at bay. Every now and then the human muttered in his sleep, the same word, again and again.

"Jade…."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**A/N: **

_I'm one of those people who cannot hear a song on the radio without mentally associating it with a fictional couple. I know that's weird, but I got into the habit about 20 years ago and I've never been able to break it. So the other night I was watching American Idol and heard Kelly Clarkson sing "My Life Would Suck Without You". First time I'd heard it, and I started thinking about Jade and Dist and just cracking up. I'm respecting this site's rules about posting song lyrics, but if you've never heard the song Google the lyrics and read the second verse. It's just so…appropriate. Now I've got the strongest urge to write a songfic for it (although I don't know when I'm going to find the time; there's this fic to finish; I am still chomping at the bit to do a Rocky Horror Picture Show recast fic, and I've got a very strange story in mind about Dist's real obsession with Jade being based on the fact that Jade has very small feet (he does! Look at him in his Battle Master outfit. They've extremely petite!). _

**Chapter 22**

_The boy liked pretty, soft things, and the huge blue-velvet bear satisfied his needs. _

_He sat on the floor next to Mr. Bear now, the fur rug tickling his bare legs, and imagined that he and Mr. Bear were guests at a great party, like Master and Mistress threw sometimes. He knew about parties; he and his mother had had one just the other day for his 3__rd__ birthday; that was when he had meet Mr. Bear and they'd become such good friends. But Master's parties were a lot bigger; lots and lots of people and the boy wasn't allowed to go to those. His mother was; he watched from the top of the stairs sometimes as she moved around through the guests, and he knew she was very important. While Master's friends had to stand around talking, his mother got to carry the big shiny silver trays around and offer them food and drinks, and everyone always seemed happy to see her, especially when she had the drink tray. _

_But then again, his mother was perfect, after all._

_He offered Mr. Bear an invisible tray of drinks, and Mr. Bear selected one and thanked him kindly for it, and that was when he heard the voices from the next room. His mother's voice, and Master's voice. Master sounded angry._

_The boy frowned and asked Mr. Bear to please excuse him for a moment, and then crept over to the door, pressing his ear against it._

"…_arranged a good position for you, Molly. Excellent chap, very generous with his help. You and the boy will do fine there."_

"_His name is Sapphire. Would it kill you to say it at least once?"_

"_Fine, you and Sapphire then. But it has to be done. She's been staring at him for a while now and starting to ask questions. I'll see that you're supported…"_

"_Don't bother." His mother's tone was icy. "I told you before; if you're not willing to be his father then we don't need anything from you. Sapphire and I will be fine on our own; we'll leave tonight, in fact."_

"_Now Molly, don't do anything rash…"_

_His mother laughed. "Rash? Oh, no, dear Master, I've learned my lesson about doing rash things. You want us gone? You want to pretend none of it ever happened? Congratulations, your wish is granted. You'll regret it someday, though."_

"_Is that a threat?"_

_Molly laughed again. "If you'd ever spent any time with you, you'd know that Sapphire is a genius. He's special, and someday the world will recognize that. Your son is going to be famous. Everyone's going to want to be close to him, and there you'll be; an old, lonely man who can't take a bit of credit for it. That will be my revenge, being there to see that. Goodbye, Albert. I wish you the best of luck with the children you do acknowledge; you'll need it."_

_Sapphire crept back to Mr. Bear and pulled him onto his lap, rocking him and crooning under his breath. _

_He was…special. Mother had said so. She was always telling him that, but he wasn't really sure yet was special meant. "You're different. You think different. I know you're going to do great things someday, Sapphire. I believe that with all my heart."_

_Special. He was special._

"Special?" The voice was high-pitched and reedy, cutting through the darkness around him and making him wince. "Oh, yes, you're special, alright. Special little Sapphire. You're special when you wash Jade's dishes and sweep his floor and wipe his little brat's nose. You're special when he's got you up on your hands and knees begging him for more. I'm sure that's the kind of special Mother intended for you."

"Shut up! What do you know about it?" Saphir spat the words out. He couldn't see anything right now, couldn't feel anything. "Do you think she would have been proud of you, either?"

"I was special! I was exactly what she expected. I was revered! Everyone knew my name! People trembled…"

"With laughter! No one took you seriously. You weren't revered; you were a joke. A tired, self-centered joke. They hated you; you had no one!"

"And what do you have?"

"Everything. I have everything! Everything I've ever wanted."

"Stupid little Sapphire. Is that really what you want? To spend the rest of your life being Jade's lapdog and licking his boots?"

"Yes, damn it! That's exactly what I want."

"You'll need me, then. You'll never live through this without me. You've been spoiled rotten for the last few years; a pampered little pet._ I_ was the survivor."

"You aren't even real! You're a stage-name! I created you! I just got…lost in the fantasy for a while."

A bitter laugh. "You were such a coward. Too scared of being hurt by your precious Jade. You had to create me so that when he struck back, it was I that took the blows, not you. I saved you again and again, because you were too much of a weakling to get through it on your own."

"I am not weak!"

"You're going to die, you know." The tone was casual now, conversational. "You're going to die far, far away from Jade and his brat. Sure, they'll be sad for a while, but they'll get over it. Jade will find someone else to take your place, some dewy eyed, pretty little thing who preens over him and becomes Vilo's new Mommy. A year from now they won't even remember you."

"Over my dead body!"

"That's not so far away. I'll help you, if you like. Hmmm? Just say the word, and I'll take over again. You can be free; everyone will think you're dead and you can go start over, do whatever you like

"Go to Hell."

"Well, I'll save you a seat. Good luck, Sapphire. Let me know if you have a change of heart. At least, while it's still beating…"

***********************

Something liquid was being forced into his mouth; warm and bitter and vile. He tried to spit it back out but there was noise of protest and it was just forced right back in. He didn't have the stretch to fight, or to even retch. As horrible as it was, his body immediately wanted more. Not for the taste but for the liquid. He was aware, dimly, that he desperately needed the water right now.

"Mieeuuu?"

He opened his mouth again like a baby swallow, and more of the foul broth was trickled into it. It tasted like boiled grass. He tried to say thank-you to whomever his caretaker was, but he could no longer force any words out. His eyes felt glued shut and he couldn't see the person either. All he could do was mouth "thank you". Something cool was moved across his forehead and water ran down over his closed eyelids.

As time went on he became more aware of himself. His chest hurt terribly and a logical voice in his head told him matter-of-factly that he had at least a few broken ribs. If he twitched too hard and moved his left ankle, it exploded in pain, indicating that was probably broken as well. He was laying on something hard, the ground perhaps, and he could hear and smell fire; could feel the warmth against his skin. The fire drew him; he found himself thinking obsessively about it, trying to picture it in his mind. When he sensed it was being rebuilt, he imagined the kind of sticks being used, what the sparks looked like flying off into the air over it, what color the smoke was. Anything to keep his mind off the pain.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, and with a great effort, Saphir managed to open his eyes.

******************************

Taking care of a sick human was noble. It was extremely noble, and Max was very proud of herself for taking on the awesome responsibility of saving a life. Such selflessness was something all cheagles should strive for (as opposed to certain cheagles who had to be happy with smashing themselves into boulders when their human companions were too lazy to push the rocks of the way themselves).

However, taking care of a sick human was also very, very boring.

She was finding that she had to travel further and further from him now to find wood for their fire, and the special grass she used to make the broth she'd been stuffing down him. Of course, the broth (boiled in a hollow shell she'd found on the shoreline) might have easily killed him; she had no way of knowing how it would affect humans. She knew it did marvelous things for sick cheagles and well, she certainly had nothing else to offer him. Frankly, she was amazed he'd managed to hold on as long as he had. He certainly didn't look very tough, but three days later he actually seemed to be improving a little.

Max decided that the grass only had a little bit to do with it; she must have some hidden talent for nursing, undiscovered until now. How wonderful, unless of course this talent meant that she was going to be forced to spend the rest of her life doing this sort of tedious thing.

Maybe some gifts were better left unexplored.

She pulled the shell off of the fire and sniffed to make sure it was steeped correctly, and then waddled over to where the human was still huddled up. As she went to hold it up to his mouth, to her surprise and delight his eyes opened; bloodshot, glazed brown eyes that stared at her in bewilderment.

"Mieu!" She offered the broth. He didn't respond at first, and then finally mouthed the word "cheagle".

She nodded and pointed at his mouth. He opened it and she poured some of the broth in. After minute, she could see him struggling to speak.

"Where's Jade?"

That again? He'd spoken it on the first night, before he'd stopped being able to talk at all.

"Jade…"

What was he, some kind of gem dealer? Max looked around, and found a piece of pyrite on the ground. Well, a rock was a rock, right? She offered it to him.

At first she thought he was angry at her, but then to her surprise she could see that he was trying to laugh. "No, no…person. Name…Jade."

There was something familiar about that; she knew that name, somehow, but she couldn't think of where right now. Looking the man in the eye, she shook her head and held up one finger. "You're the only one I found."

"Are we…alone?"

Max nodded.

"So you've…been taking care of me?"

She nodded again proudly.

"Thank you, little fellow."

She frowned at him and growled. For a moment he looked surprised and then tried to laugh again. "Ma'am?" Max patted his hand in forgiveness.

"Saphir…my name's Saphir."

She thought for a moment and then moved where he could see her better, and began scratching in the dirt, for the first time thankful to Mieu. Only a few other cheagles had been interested in his ability to write words humans could read, but already planning her own epic adventure Max had been happy to learn what the little marks meant.

The man blinked at the letters for a moment. "Max…"

"Mieu!"

"Max…I'm hurt badly."

"You think?" Max muttered, cursing once again the "Mieu" that escaped from her mouth. No wonder all humans thought they all had the same name.

"I need….a city. Don't even know where I am…am I still on Rugnica?"

A nod.

"Thought so. Which way to the Cheagle Woods?"

Max pointed north, not sure why he wanted to go there, but willing to humor him.

"Then Grand Chokmah is further north than that. Or was… Max, I need to get home. There was a flood…I was caught. My family…need to know if my family is okay."

Max cocked her head, trying to get him to continue.

"Jade…he's…well, my mate. Vilo…he's Jade's son…like my son too. I don't know…I don't even know if they're alive."

He closed his eyes again for a moment, exhausted by the effort of speaking.

"Don't suppose you know what cities are closet to here, do you?"

Of course she knew. Max held up two fingers, and pointed east.

"Which one is closer? Engeve or St. Binah?"

Max scrawled ST in the dirt. She'd passed Engeve days ago; St. Binah wasn't exactly right next door but it was definitely the closer to the two.

"Dangerous…might kill me…" He sighed. "Have to risk it…need to get home." His voice trailed off and he fell asleep again.

"And how exactly do you think I'm supposed to get you to St. Binah, magic?" Max muttered. "Like you're gonna be able to walk anywhere on that ankle."

Great. Just great. Some epic adventure this was turning out to be. She couldn't bring herself to just abandon the human…Saphir. Especially now that he'd introduced himself. And his poor family…if they were okay they were probably worried sick about him. And he had a kid too on top of it.

Well, this was certainly a noble cause, reuniting a family severed by cruel, cruel fate. Surely there would be some kind of nice reward for doing so, beyond of course the personal reward of just doing a good deed.

However, if he died this was definitely a strike against her. She didn't think fate would be too mad; she'd done an admirable job so far, after all. But it just didn't look good on a list of accomplishments, at least the list she wanted to be able to take back home and wave in Mieu's smug little face.

Okay, even a noble heroine knew when she needed help. She had to get this human to St. Binah somehow and only other humans could assist her in that.

She walked back over to the slumbering Saphir and rubbed out her name in the dirt, and began scratch out letters again. "Road. Get Soon."

She threw as much as she could on the fire, and hoped it would hold out until she got back. "I'll make someone come." She whispered. "I'll find someone to get you to St. Binah."

Somehow…

***************************

"_Tell me the story again."_

"_Again? Don't you want to hear something else?"_

"_Nope. Please, Vilo?"_

"_Okay, okay, just don't pout. I hate it when you pout. Where do you want me to start?"_

"_You and Papa were all sad because Daddy got lost in the water, right? And Papa thought Daddy was dead, but you didn't."_

"_That's right."_

"_And it was allll because of me."_

_A laugh. "Yes, brat. It was allll because of you. I had a dream about you, and so I knew that your Daddy had to be okay because you couldn't ever exist if he wasn't. But everyone else thought I was wrong, that it was just a dream, and that I just didn't want to accept the truth. And so I got mad. And you've seen me when I get mad."_

"_So you had an idea…"_

"_Yup. I decided to go out and look for your Daddy all by myself. At first I thought I'd steal the Albiore, but I knew I'd never be able to figure how to fly it alone. I needed a way to look for him, something fast and something I could control, and then I thought of the chair. The best way to lie is to tell as much of the truth as possible; if 90% of your story is true, then no one notices the lies. Your Daddy did tell me all about the chair, and he was going to ask Peony if I could take a ride in it. It was sort of a mean thing to do to him, but I didn't feel like I had any other choice. Saphir needed me. I'd do it again in a minute."_

"_So you hid food…"_

"_I hid a big pack of food near the entrance of the city, and I stole a really sharp dagger from the palace and hid that too, and on my way out I stopped and picked up both of them. Of course, the world's a pretty big place. Once I was out of Grand Chokmah I had no idea at all where to look. But Saphir taught me how to use logic."_

"_Logic…"_

"_When you have a problem, first of all you have to eliminate anything that can't possibly be true. Get rid of all the junk. I figured if Saphir was okay somewhere, alive and well, then he would have found a way to get home. Peony was right about that. So it meant one of two things; either he was too hurt to tell anyone who he was, or he was stuck somewhere and couldn't get to anyone to tell them. Now I had to be careful, because I knew my Dad was going to totally lose it and have people out trying to find me. I couldn't look for anyone if I was locked up in some tower in the palace."_

"_Papa kind of growls when he tells this story."_

"_Yes…I've noticed that. Anyway, I needed to touch base with some people I trusted, people who weren't going to rat me out to Dad and Peony. I knew some people who fit that bill, some kids in Engeve I'd made friends with when we were trying to figure out the crop plague there. I decided to see if my pal Toby had any information for me…_


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:**

_Okay, I had fun with this chapter. It's a little weird and schizophrenic, but it was blast to write. Just a couple of things to mention: Jade is wrong about Saphir. Not about the being dead business (he's wrong about that too) but about Saphir's abilities. Saphir is dependent on Jade because he likes being dependent on Jade. He's a lot tougher than either one of them realize and at heart he's a born survivor. As odd as this sounds this entire thing is going to end up being good for him in the long run. _

_As for the laws, the name one is based on a true story. While I don't remember what country it was, the leader's wife Monica left him for another man. The leader passed a law that it was illegal to name any baby girls "Monica" after that. I'll say it right now; weird, old, silly laws are an addiction of mine. They'll probably show up again later._

Chapter 23

Among Emperor Peony's most prized possession was a rather thick volume of Malkuth legal history. While this in and of itself wasn't so unusual (there were thousands of legal tomes floating around the city, many literally after the flood), this particular book was unique (commissioned by the current Emperor himself) because the laws contained within were…well…ridiculous. Some of them were still actually valid, although no one in their right mind would try to enforce them. Whenever Peony needed a good, hard laugh the book usually did the trick.

During the reign of Emperor Justice the 5th, for example, the monarch had had his heart completely broken by a rather fickle noblewoman named Precious. This resulted in a mandate that it was illegal for anyone in Malkuth territory to name a daughter (sons were apparently exempt) Precious. Since most parents weren't that cruel, the law had had little impact.

Harder for the citizens to take was a law put into place by Emperor Peony the 3rd, during a very difficult and protracted time of war with Kimlasca. Since the official color of Kimlasca was red, Peony the 3rd had proclaimed that all red things were anathema. While decorations and clothing could be worked around, he also applied this rule to anyone with red hair. The offenders were given a choice: shave their heads or lose them. Most of them wisely chose the bald look. (With the exception of one family of five who had gone to the chopping block chanting "Dead but still red!").

Interestingly enough, a rumor had surfaced that the family's eldest son, a strapping lad of eighteen or so, had escaped and fled to Kimlasca, where he'd become a favorite of the current queen. How much of a favorite was still open to debate because the story had it the queen had given birth to a strapping red-haired son about a year later. Of course some rumors would surface; there'd never been any redheads in the Kimlascan ruling class to the best of anyone's recollection up until that point.

Emperor Augustovinian (the first and last; no future ruler wanting to saddle their heir with that horrible name) had been blessed with four healthy sons, all of whom he royally despised. Whether or not the boys had actually earned their father's ire legitimately (he was convinced they were plotting against him, but Emperor Augustovinian believed everyone was plotting against him, from the scullery maids to his own ancient grandmother) was beside the point. He'd crafted in existence a law that allowed fathers to legally murder their children "if justified."

The law had been struck down shortly after the Emperor himself was (no one could prove patricide, but the youngest, a boy of nine, had worn a very smug look on his face for weeks after Augustovinian was found face-down in his lentil soup). The new heir (who proved that he had some common sense) immediately implemented the council system, which placed limits on what an Emperor could do and what laws they could enact.

There were moments when Jade wished that law had been left alone.

No, he thought now, leaning back in the seat of the Albiore. He had no desire to actually kill Vilo. He hadn't ever seriously considered implementing spanking; for one thing he didn't think it was very effective and for another the boy was too old. The more he considered it, the more he was willing (to his own surprise) to let the incident slide, provided he found the child before he or anyone else was harmed.

How could he punish the boy for what boiled down to a simple matter of childish faith? When his mother had died, Vilo hadn't been given the chance, any chance, to deny the reality. He'd described it once to Jade; coming into the room and seeing her soaked in her own blood, her eyes glazed and staring blindly at the ceiling. There was no room for self delusion there, no few moments of holding on to the slim hope that just maybe she might be okay.

Saphir's body, on the other hand, hadn't been found. More than likely it would never be found. Of course Vilo wasn't going to give in so easily, let someone else he loved be ripped away from him without a fight. When did Vilo do anything without a fight?

Jade had wondered how long that belief would hold, how long until the truth gradually sank in that his odd friend wasn't coming home again.

He'd held out belief himself for almost three days, going from group to group of the walking survivors and those who were unconscious, trying desperately to locate Saphir in the crowds of milling, devastated civilians. He'd been afraid, terribly afraid, that even if by some miracle Saphir had managed to survive being washed away, his luck would not hold out in the middle of citizens who had just lost everything and were eager to have someone flesh-and-blood to blame that loss on.

Accepting the truth had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do in his entire life. But he'd never been fond of self-delusion, and the reality of the matter was that Saphir had become so dependent on him over the last few years that the man simply wasn't capable at this point of functioning for very long alone. He would have found a way to either make it home himself or send word to Jade where to come pick him up. Even if he'd been unconscious, someone would have recognized him and let Jade know. Not for any altruistic purposes, but because Dist the Reaper was considered too dangerous to be allowed to roam free.

_He was happy. Dependent or not, he was happy. I know he was. He accepted how things had to be, accepted the restrictions of his Bond. He never tried to fight me on it, never tried to get Peony to petition the council for his sentence to be commuted. He knew he'd never be a free man again, and he knew why. _

_Please let it have been fast, so fast he didn't know what happened. I've never believed in karma, but he tried so hard to turn his life around. If that never earned him anything else, at least let it have earned him a painless death._

Right now his focus had to be on Vilo though, because Saphir would have wanted that, would have been furious with Jade for wasting precious time and energy on his memory when the child he'd loved so much might be in danger. Just because Jade sympathized with what had driven the boy to such a drastic move didn't mean he wasn't going to tear Auldrant apart trying to find him before he did anything else so…dramatic.

"We're almost to Engeve." Guy turned around in the pilot seat to look back at Jade.

To a stranger, the Colonel would have appeared the same as always. Calm, unflappable, stoic. It took someone who knew him a little better to notice the stress lines around his eyes, the way he kept staring off into space when he thought no one was looking. He knew the look well enough; he'd seen it on Tear's face for the last two years.

Natalia had worn it too for a while, but it was different for her. She'd loved Asch, but she'd loved the ten-year-old boy Asch had been; the overly serious child who'd dreamed of marrying her and rebuilding Kimlasca to their liking. The Asch who'd returned to her was a stranger, and in Guy's opinion it was simply not possible to love a stranger, not really. Natalia hadn't spent enough time with Asch before his death to really know the person he'd grown into.

Was she still in love with that memory, or had it been enough time? What would she do if presented another opportunity?

Well, this wasn't the time to dwell on that; there was too much going on right now. Later, if they all survived, he thought perhaps he and the princess should have a talk about…opportunities.

"You think Vilo came here first?"

"I'm almost positive he did. If he's looking for Saphir he'll more than likely focus on Rugnica first. He's never been to St. Binah, and he made some friends during the brief time we were in Engeve. He won't trust an adult not to tattle, but little boys have a curious code of honor."

"So what makes you think these children will tell you anything?"

Jade smiled at him, that calm, chilling smile he reserved for anyone unluckily enough to get on his bad side. "Because I hadn't planned on giving them a choice."

*****************************

Cheagles were known for having very good instincts about people. It was, the Elder said, a biological adaptation. A cheagle out on their own in the world would more than likely be forced to interact with humans a time or two. Most humans were good at heart and were happy to meet a Sacred Beast of Lorelei.

Some of them were worse than ligers.

So the ability to be able to tell the good humans from the crummy ones was useful. And she could tell that the two humans camped out on the roadside were pretty crummy.

They didn't look crummy; they looked like a nice, normal human couple; a man and a woman halfway between young and old. The woman was cooking something over a fire and the man was carving something out of wood. But…they didn't smell right. Max could tell this even from a distance, hidden in the grass and observing them. Something was making her nose twitch and it wasn't the smoke.

The smell told her that these were the kind of people who…took advantage was the best way she could describe it. They didn't cause evil things to happen, per se, but they were the kind of people to use evil things for their benefits. The kind of people who, if their neighbor's house burned down, would go through the ashes and steal anything that happened to survive. The kind of people who wouldn't knock a man unconscious but would happily rifle that unconscious man's pockets for gald.

Behind them was a covered wagon, a broken-down gray nag of a horse grazing next to it. The horse wasn't evil, but it had the smell about it of something very close to dying and quite looking forward to it. It knew she was there and didn't care; it had other concerns in life besides a spying cheagle.

These were not the kind of people Max could rely on to help Saphir, even if their wagon would be perfect for carting him to St. Binah. If she were bigger, she'd hook up the tired horse again and steal it; it would certainly serve them right. However, this was beyond her abilities. But she could still do something…

Max crept up on the wagon, careful to make sure the smelly humans didn't notice her, and with a quick hop was up on the wooden panel sticking out the back, and ducked under the canvas.

Her nose twitched again at the odor inside; sweat, dirty socks, and greedy humans, but she smelled something else too. Excellent; she knew they'd have something. Probably stolen, but still something useful.

She followed her abused nose to a corner and poked around, before giving a whisper of triumph and pulled out a small tube of lemon gel. Unfortunately there was only one, but it was better than nothing. Saphir needed all the help he could get right now.

Holding her prize, Max jumped down into the grass, and felt a flicker of approval from the horse as he noticed her theft. His black, rheumy eyes rolled toward the wagon and he made a motion of breathing on it, looking to see if she understood.

Max giggled to herself. "You got it." She pulled in the deepest breath she could and let it out in a blast of flames. Immediately the canvas ignited, and the entire wagon was quickly ablaze. She ducked back into the grass just as the humans turned around, shouting in shock and rage and trying to scoop water out of the tiny stream they'd camped near.

It wouldn't stop them from being nasty people, but it would delay them a bit and give the horse a chance to rest his tired bones. Meanwhile, she had a patient to attend.

*****************************

The first thing Saphir noticed as he drifted lazily toward the house was that the high stone wall around it was gone. In its place was a fence. A white picket fence that gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight.

His rose bushes were gone too, replaced by small yellow buttercups that dotted the immaculately cut green lawn. Butterflies hovered of them, and a rainbow arched over the house. White lacy curtains fluttered in an open window.

Still floating, he moved through the front door, and into the living room, which had completely been redone in flowery pastels, the beautiful hardwood floor he polished to gleaming each week covered by a thick white carpet. How impractical, really. It would be nearly impossible to keep it clean, especially with a child in the house.

He drifted off toward the kitchen.

A woman in a white apron was icing a large cake. Long blonde hair fell past her shoulders, and when she turned he saw impossibly large blue eyes; her smile revealing shiny, perfectly white teeth. Under the apron, her bosom was absurdly large.

"Oh, as if those are real! And you're as much a natural blonde as I am a rappig!"

The woman ignored Saphir, humming to herself as she finished decorating the cake. Just as she was placing it under a glass cover, the back door opened.

Vilo strolled into the kitchen. At least Saphir thought it was Vilo. It was hard to tell with the short, slicked back hair and by the fact that the boy was wearing a well-tailored suit. His boots were polished and gleaming, his nails cut short.

"Good afternoon, Mother." He chirped. "You look lovely today."

"Thank you, Vilo. Go wash up. Your father will be home soon, and we'll have dinner." The woman's voice was high, lilting. "I made all your favorites."

"Wow, thanks Mother. You're the best. I shall go tidy up at once." Vilo bowed to her, actually bowed, and then left the room.

Saphir blinked. "Do you really believe him? He's plotting something; you can be sure of that! You're obviously as stupid as you look, you tart."

Still humming, the woman began placing dishes of steaming food on the table. Saphir missed where she'd gotten the dishes from; it seemed as if they'd just appeared. They all did seem to be full of things Vilo enjoyed; candied potatoes and rare roast beef and creamed salmon.

"Are you allergic to green?" Saphir yelled at the woman. "The boy needs vitamins! It would kill you to boil some damn broccoli? And who the hell serves beef _and_ salmon?"

"I'm home." Called familiar voice from the living room.

"Oh good. You just wait until Jade gets through with you!" Saphir shook his finger at the woman. "He won't put up with this nonsense!"

"Oh darling, how wonderful." The blonde woman sang out as Jade entered the kitchen. "I've missed you so… how was work?"

"Very stressful, but now that I'm home in the loving embrace of my family, things are so much better." Jade kissed the woman on the cheek. "How lovely you look, my sweet."

"Oh, I see what's going on here!" Saphir was outraged. "That is most certainly not Jade! You made a replica of him, didn't you? And of Vilo. When I get my hands on you…"

"Father, you're home."

The not-Vilo came back into the kitchen, wearing a different suit. "I was busy changing into my play clothes and didn't hear you enter."

"Play clothes? What are you playing, undertaker?" Saphir snapped.

"That's quite alright. How was school today?"

"Excellent, Father. I got highest marks again."

"Delightful. You can tell me all about it at dinner."

The little family sat down at the table to eat.

"Wow, Mother, you're the best cook ever." Vilo beamed.

"You're the best cook ever." Saphir parroted in a high voice. "Thank you for feeding me this swill with no nutritional value so that I never grow up and stay short forever."

"I agree, darling." Jade took another bite. "What a lucky man I am."

"Oh, I love you, my dearest." The woman sighed.

"I love you too, Mary Sue."

"NO!"

Saphir jolted awake, the hard ground still under his cheek, gasping.

"As if I'm not miserable enough, now I have to have nightmares on top of it?" The man shuddered to himself, and then nearly cried out again as his broken ribs reminded him of their existence. "Damn you, Mary Sue. If I find you anywhere near my family…"

"Mieu?" Something pink caught the edge of his vision.

"Oh, you're back. Sorry about that. Just a very horrid dream. What have you got there?"

The cheagle beamed at him and held out the tube.

"Lemon gel?" Saphir laughed, and then winced again as his ribs pulled. "Oh, you wonderful creature. Where did you find this?"

Max desperately wished she could tell him the story, but instead had to settle for shrugging and giving him a wink.

It wouldn't restore him to full strength, but it would probably be enough to put his ribs on the mend and get him up on his feet. As long as he took it slowly, and Max could find him something to eat, he might even be able to make it as far as St. Binah on his own power.

_Just be patient a little while longer, Jade. I'm doing the best I can to make it back to you. _

_Don't give up on me._


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N**

_This chapter kind of flips through time a little. Hopefully it won't be too confusing. It took me a while to decide how I wanted to show the events leading up to St. Binah._

_I also promise this story isn't going to drag on forever. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I swear I am actually going toward a conclusion here. Jade's clandestine meetings with Noah and Kratos were productive; he has a pretty good idea now on how to find __Lẽtum. And he fully intends to follow up on that. Vilo just derailed his plans…_

_I had a big challenge with this chapter; Jade's already had his big emotional breakdown and he's not due for another one for a long time. So it took me a while to decide how to do the last part; highly emotional Jade is OOC Jade after all. Anyway, hope it's not too saccharine._

_Thanks as always to those who have been reading and giving me a chance to tell this story. You're the best._

**Chapter 24**

Humans, Max was finding, were amazing creatures. Clearly lacking in almost the most basic of common sense most of the time, but when they wanted something they were positively awe-inspiring in their efforts to achieve it.

Once the lemon gel had taken effect, Saphir had immediately started putting a plan into action to haul himself to St. Binah. This included fashioning an odd kind of walking stick out of materials around him, forming a perfectly serviceable crutch when he was finished. Without it he wouldn't have made it very far; his ankle was still far too fragile to put any kind of weight on.

The biggest problem, Max knew, was how long his physical strength could hold out. The lemon gel could halfway mend his broken bones, but what it could not do cure the fatigue caused by days of lacking proper food and the exhaustion in general caused by stress.

Rugnica was full of edible plants, and Max was more than happy to show Saphir which ones were safe (or that she assumed would be safe). The best of which was a small, potato-like root that grew abundantly around them. Dug up and roasted over a fire, they weren't bad at all. She'd even tried to show him some insects that, while not exactly her taste, might give him a much-needed protein boost. So far, he hadn't been very interested.

But no badly how badly he wanted to reach the village, the truth was that he was weak, incredibly weak, and Max had to put her paw down more than once to force him to take a rest. After several days, those rests had to be more frequent and for much longer periods of time. She thought that without her to remind him that he was human, Saphir might push himself so hard that he'd finally collapse for good.

Not on her watch…

"Alright, my dear. I'll stop." Saphir sank to the ground and stretched his bad leg out in front of him. "Do you need any help with the fire?"

Max snorted and shook her head, motioning him to stay put while she got the blaze up and going, and then curled up against him. He reached down to stroke her ears gently. Above them, the first stars of evening were appearing in the twilight sky, and the plains were eerily calm and quite. The only noise was the crackling of the fire in front of them.

"Max…" There was something odd about his tone now. "I don't know what prompted your kindness in helping me. I thought I didn't have anything to repay you with, but I do. I owe you a truth. And if you decide after hearing it that you want nothing more to do with me, I'll understand."

The cheagle looked up at him, confused, and then her eyes grew wide as he continued to speak, outlining his history and his misdeeds before her in stark black-and-white, his crimes against her people. He didn't meet her gaze, just continuing to stare at the fire.

This? This was Dist the Reaper? The monster who'd kidnapped and imprisoned cheagles for his experiments? This was the creature whom the freed cheagles spoke of so fearfully and hated so much?

How was this possible? He didn't smell evil; he didn't even smell greedy. Her mind spun in confusion.

"So there you have it." He blinked rapidly. "You have the entire truth and know just who it is you're helping. I'm really trying to change, really I am, but if I didn't tell you, just so that you'd stay with me, then I'd be no better than the man I was."

He picked up a small twig from next to him and tossed it onto the flames. "I can't be that person any more even if I wanted to. Vilo adores me, and he's at a very impressionable age. He wants to do everything I do, and I want him to have a glorious future.

"And then there's Jade, of course. Quite a few skeletons in his closet as well, but he got his head straightened out long before I did. Neither of us are perfect, not even close, but we're trying to do the right thing. Vilo was a happy surprise; Jade didn't even know he had a child until Vilo showed up in Grand Chokmah and destroyed our house." Saphir laughed a little. "It's hard to describe, but it was one of those things that you don't even realize you want until it's there. It seems so far away right now, even if we're only a few days out of St. Binah at this pace. Sometimes it seems like I dreamed it all, my life there, that if I do make it back no one will even know who I am or what I'm talking about."

He was rambling, he knew, but if this was the last conversation he was going to have with his little friend then he wanted it to last as long as possible. Saphir glanced over in surprise as a small hand closed around his. Max made a small hop and landed on his lap, and then leaned forward to put her head against his chest.

This man wasn't evil. Maybe a little bad, but who wasn't? She certainly wasn't a paragon of virtue, although she was very, very close. If he had been evil once, it was ancient history at this point. As long as he was sorry for what he'd done, that was good enough for her. She hadn't realized since leaving the woods just how lonely she'd been. This human needed her, and she would get him home again or die trying.

Besides, she was looking forward to meeting her new family.

*************************

"Heyo!"

Saphir stopped, gasping for breath, as a wagon pulled up next to him, driven by a homespun-looking man. At first he thought he was becoming delusional again; this was the first human he'd seen since being swept away from Grand Chokmah.

"Are you alright, friend?" The man was staring at the crutch and Saphir's tattered clothing and filthy, matted hair. "Do you need help?"

"Thank you." Saphir sagged in relief. "I'm trying to get to St. Binah. I was caught in the flood…"

"You're from the capital?" The man sounded shocked. "Get in. I'm headed for Kaitzur but I can drop you off in St. Binah. Is that a cheagle?"

Max smiled and waved at him. No greedy odors here.

"This is Max: she may look like a cheagle but she's really an angel in disguise. This lovely lady saved my life." Saphir lifted the animal into the wagon and struggled to pull himself up before this kind-hearted soul changed his mind. "Thank you. I don't have any money on me, but I'll see that you're repaid for this as soon as I'm able."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Been stranded a time or two myself. Probably will be again before my time. My name's Gideon. You settled in okay?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Saphir." Max clambered up on his lap. The man clicked his tongue at the horses and the wagon took off.

"How badly was Grand Chokmah damaged?"

"Pretty bad. Over four thousand lives were lost. The city is a mess right now; it's going to take months to get it back into any kind of shape."

Max gasped and Saphir was thrown for a moment. "Have you heard…do you know if Colonel Curtiss survived?"

Gideon glanced at him in surprise. "As far as I know. I think if he hadn't we would have heard about it. Is he a friend of yours?"

Saphir nodded but didn't elaborate, and Gideon didn't press. "Course I've been on the road for a while now, so I'm a bit out of the loop when it comes to news. They should know for certain in St. Binah."

It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. Jade and Vilo had to be alright; there simply wasn't any other option. Saphir settled back into the wagon seat and for the first time since the flood was able to really sleep.

****************************************

Jade seldom played poker any longer. He preferred games with a least a small bit of challenge in them, and poker was far too easy. Not only could the other players never even begin to guess when he was bluffing, but he was excellent at reading their body language and expressions, and he could smell a liar a mile away. Even an experienced, accomplished liar.

Which this small boy almost cowering before him most assuredly was not.

"Tobius, I do understand your point of view. You were placed in a position of trust, and it would be highly offensive to your morals to betray that trust. I'm not without sympathy."

The boy relaxed slightly, but Jade continued.

"However, I also have a responsibility toward keeping my son safe, and I take that very seriously. I know he's been here; I know you've helped him. So if you insist on fibbing to me, I'll have no choice but to take you back to Grand Chokmah. We have some interesting methods of getting the truth out of people there; you may find it fascinating. I know I certainly will."

Toby swallowed hard. "But…"

"Yes?"

"No." The boy steeled himself. "No, you can torture me and chain me up and beat me and…"

"Tell him, Toby." A tow-headed boy named Jerid interjected.

Jade focused on the child. "Yes?"

"We didn't know nothing about his friend Saphir. Hadn't heard nothing so we weren't much help. We just gave him some food, that's all, and he left. I wanted to ride in the chair but he wouldn't let me."

Ah, so that was it. A chance for revenge would override childhood loyalty any day. How many opportunities did a boy get to ride in a flying chair, after all? Jerid would be stewing about Vilo's selfishness for months.

"Did he say where he was going next?"

"He was going to snoop around St. Binah and see if any kids there had heard anything."

"Jade!"

Jade looked up to see Guy running toward him at full tilt. "What is it?"

"We need to leave for St. Binah right away. We just got word from General McGovern."

"Let me guess. He has my son?"

"Vilo's there, but…Jade, they found Saphir!"

Jade froze and then asked very softly. "His body, you mean?"

"He's alive, Jade. Pretty banged up and weak, but…"

Guy stopped talking; it was pointless. He laughed and ran after Jade toward the waiting Albiore.

***********************************

"Here we go." Gideon stopped the carriage. "St. Binah, safe and sound. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, I am now. Thank you." Saphir climbed down to the ground and picked up Max. "If you're ever in Grand Chokmah, stop by."

"I'll keep that in mind. Take care of yourself. You too, Max."

"Mieu!"

"Well, first stop is to locate a man named August McGovern." Saphir informed the cheagle. "He's an old friend of Jade's. He'll get word to him at once. If all goes well I should be home by tomorrow. Assuming my home is still there…"

Max nodded, glad to be out of the carriage in spite of how helpful it had been. The constant rocking motion had made her a little sea-sick.

The town was alive and bustling, and Saphir nearly wept at the sight of so many people.

He'd been born here, although his memories were sketchy. His mother had moved them both to Belkend when he was three, and then to Keterburg when he was seven. He knew that in the back of the city there stood a huge mansion, surrounded by every color of flower a person could imagine. He vividly remembered holding on to his mother's hand as they walked through the garden and she told him the names of the plants. Asking her once why they never go to use the huge front door and always had to use the ugly back one.

_Because you're special, Sapphire. This is a door for special people._

Leaning on his handmade crutch, and with Max at his side, he hobbled into the heart of the village.

"Excuse me…" He stopped before a young man. "I need to see former Field Marshall McGovern, please. It's urgent."

"Sure, just…" The man paused and stared at Saphir, frowning. "You're the Reaper! It's the Reaper!"

A small crowd formed around him, the smell of anger so strong it made Max sneeze.

"Please…" Saphir's head was swimming from the heat of the afternoon sunlight. "If I can just see McGovern…"

"Worms, are we?" The first young man spat out. He reached down and scooped up a rock, flinging it at Saphir has hard as he could. Saphir cried out in pain and fell to his knees, the crutch falling at his side. Another rock, thrown by a woman this time, bounced off his shoulder.

"MIEU!!!" Max jumped in front her friend and let out a burst of flames. The crowd instantly fell back for a moment.

"Get him! Get him and get his monster!"

"That's a cheagle!" Someone was saying. "Don't hurt the cheagle; he probably has a spell on it!"

"I'm sorry…" Saphir felt the world going grey again. "I'm sorry, please…" Another rock struck him, and then another.

"You're sorry? You think that 'sorry' makes up for the lives that we lost? Well, you're going to be sorry. You're going to be sorry you ever showed your ugly face around here, you…"

"You leave him be!"

The voice was high, pre-adolecent, and so sweetly familiar Saphir felt his eyes well up with tears. He heard the sound of running feet, and then someone was kneeling next to him, putting a small arm around his shoulders.

"Who the hell are you?" The leader of the mob demanded. "Get away from that dirtbag. Don't you know who that is, kid?"

"Yes I do. Do you know who_ I_ am? I'm Vilo Curtiss, son of Colonel Jade Curtiss. This man is my father's Bonded servant. He's also my best friend, and my father will NOT be happy when I tell him about this. Clear a path for us. Now!"

"Mieu!" Max agreed, and shook her fist at the humans.

"Well said, lad. Your father couldn't have done it better. What in the _hell_ do you think you're doing to this man?" Saphir could vaguely see an old man parting the crowd before him, his face thunderous.

"Field Marshall McGovern, sir." The leader looked abashed. "It's Dist the Reaper, sir. He attacked us."

"Attacked? He can't even stand up." The old man was livid. "What is wrong with you?"

"He called us worms…"

"Well, he was obviously wrong. Worms wouldn't do this to one of their own. And he is one of our own, you ignorant fool. He was born here!" McGovern knelt down in front of Saphir. "It's alright, son. No one's going to hurt you any more. Glenn!"

"Right here, Father."

"Help me get him to his feet. We'll take him to the mansion. And send for a healer."

"No need. I'm a 7th. I'll take care of him." Vilo interjected, his tone proprietary. "I knew you were alive, Saphir." The danger over, the boy's cheeks were wet. "I knew it. No one else believed it but me… I knew you were okay."

"Why…you're here alone…" Saphir was confused. "Where's Jade? I want to see Jade."

"We'll send word to him at once." Glenn McGovern promised, pulling Saphir onto his feet and putting an arm under his shoulders.

"General?" Someone called out. "What do you want us to do with this chair?"

"What chair?"

"The boy arrived on a chair…that chair."

A chair? Oh no…

"Vilo…" Saphir's mind was exhausted but he was still able to put a few pieces together. "You didn't…"

"Of course I did." Vilo winked. "Come on, I'll tell you everything while we wait for Dad to get here and kill me."

*************************

The sun show in through the huge plate-glass window, warming Saphir as he relaxed on the sofa. Not giving a darn about his pride, Vilo was curled up at his side with his head on Saphir's shoulder, and the little pink cheagle was snuggled between them.

Even shaved, and in clean clothing, and after Vilo had healed his physical injuries, Saphir still looked like he'd gotten into a fist-fight with death. He'd insisted on getting cleaned up as best he could while waiting for Jade, even though Vilo tried to assure him that his father probably wouldn't be overly concerned with Saphir's appearance in lieu of the fact that he was actually alive.

"So the entire house is gone, huh?"

"Yeah. Saphir, I'm sorry. You worked so hard. All your experiments and data…"

"All of the data is still saved up here." Saphir chuckled and tapped the side of his head. "As for the rest, you'll just have to help me rebuild it."

"If you wait a few years, Virgil can help us."

"Vilo…"

"I'm just saying. You'd want him if you could see him. He's really cute."

Saphir sighed and changed the subject. "I've missed you, you know. Thank you for having some faith in me. But I'm still very unhappy with you about the way you handled it. Stealing my chair, running away from home…"

"Technically, I flew away from home."

"Don't you argue semantics with me, boy."

"I had to, Saphir. No one else was going to come find you if I didn't. They were planning a…" The boy shivered. "Memorial service."

"Oh? I wouldn't have minded seeing that. I hope they were planning a very nice one."

"Mieu…" Max agreed, half asleep.

"I've always said one child has more common sense than a dozen adults. Maybe the next time you try to tell them something, they'll listen." Saphir pushed Vilo's hair back off of his forehead.

"Absolutely. After this, I think I'll tend to believe anything he tells me."

Jade stood in the doorway of the room, his voice cracking slightly at the end. "Saphir…"

Saphir pulled himself to his feet and tried to walk forward, but stumbled. Before he hit the floor Jade was there to grab him, pulling him tight against his body, letting Saphir's full weight sag against his chest. He was shaking slightly, but still holding on to his self-control. Saphir decided to do the kind thing and break down sobbing on behalf of both of them.

"I must look like hell." He finally managed.

"Worse than hell."

"Bastard. You're supposed to tell me I look beautiful."

Jade laughed. "I'm sorry…I…I just didn't see any way that you could have survived…where have you been?"

"Sit down and I'll tell you everything." Saphir wiped at his eyes. "And don't you know I'm a cockroach?"

"Hey Dad." Vilo called from the couch. "How're you?"

"Vilo…" Jade looked over at his son. "After this, you and I are going to have one very serious chat…"

"Yeah, kind of figured that. I'm not sorry, though. I was right."

"Mieu…" Max waved at Jade happily. She knew him now, even thought it was doubtful he'd remember her. He'd helped defeat the liger queen and had come into the tree numerous times, but she'd never paid much attention to his name. This was a nice surprise; not only was she going to snag herself a nice human family, but one with some clout on top of it. Excellent.

"I see you do have a lot to tell me." Jade lowered Saphir back down onto the couch and sat down next to him. "Starting with, why in the world do you have a cheagle?"

"Because I wouldn't be here without her…." Saphir began, the center of attention and happy as always to be there. "But I have a question first."

"Ask away, love."

"You don't happen to know anyone named Mary Sue, do you?"


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N:**

_Just realized I had McGovern's rank wrong. Glenn is the general and Dad is the former Field Marshall. I've gone back and corrected the last chapter. Also, this is another thing that I heard somewhere but don't remember where: the Elder McGovern's first name is August. That's why the rappig was named after him. I tried Googling this for verification but came up flat. So I'm going with August. It fits him… Also, Max had waffles for the first time in St. Binah and is now an addict._

**Chapter 25**

"_So a short is when current goes somewhere it shouldn't. Like…it takes a short cut. But that short cut doesn't have anything to slow it down or hold it so it can cause the machine to burn up or act all funny."_

"_Exactly. What kinds of machines can short out?"_

"_Any of them, sooner or later. You have to be really, really careful when you're soldering not to make a…bridge…cause that makes a short. But machines get old and the parts sag a little bit and bam…bridge. No more machine."_

"_Very good."_

"_Willy was goofy when he got a short."_

"_We don't discuss that around him. He's very touchy about the subject, you know."_

"_It still was funny. He just kept talking nonsense and spinning around."_

"_Luckily it was easily repairable and didn't damage his memory banks."_

"_You were able to fix him, though. You can fix anything."_

"_You know, we don't always have to talk about fontech. It's perfectly alright if you want normal bedtime stories. You have all of those books Auntie Nephry sent you."_

"_They're okay. But they're kind of silly. I mean, talking animals and all…"_

"_You mean, like Max?"_

"_Max is different, Daddy. She's family. She's not really an animal."_

"_She'll be delighted that you think so."_

_A sigh._

"_Why is your hair sticking up again? I swear, I spend so much time trying to get it to lie flat…I'm thinking of just saving myself the trouble and shaving you bald. Hand me that brush. You're big enough to do this yourself, you know."_

"_I know. I just like having you do it."_

"_Flattery, eh? Virgil…I only want you to be happy. I wasn't happy as a little boy, not as often as I should have been. You're different; there's not denying that you're different. That doesn't mean you can't like normal little boy things too."_

_A soft reply._

"_They don't understand me. I try and tell them about stuff I like and they just stare at me, and they don't understand, and sometimes they laugh. Then I get mad and leave."_

"_I know. Virgil, they're not going to change. They'll never understand the things you love so much. They'll never understand that part of you. So you're the one who needs to make the effort to understand them, become interested in the things they like. Otherwise you're going to have a very lonely life, and that's the last thing in the world I ever want for you. You're my miracle. I just don't want to see you make the same mistakes I did."_

"_Okay, I do want a real story."_

"_Excellent. Which one?"_

"_Tell me what happened after Papa found you. After the big flood."_

"_Well, we were all in St. Binah…"_

_*******************************_

Much to Vilo's irritation, Jade had insisted that Saphir be examined by a real healer. To Saphir's irritation, the little man had poked and prodded at him before declaring all there was nothing wrong with him that a lot of food and bed-rest wouldn't cure. Which was perfectly fine with Saphir; he fully intended to indulge himself in both as much as possible.

August McGovern had invited them to stay in as long as they liked, but Jade had gently declined. There was too much work still to be done back in Grand Chokmah, and Saphir was eager to get back to familiar surroundings, even if they were a bit damaged and water-logged. In the meantime, there had been something nagging at Saphir since arriving here and he was determined to satisfy his curiosity before leaving.

"How did you know?"

August was sitting at his desk, head bent over a book, when Saphir appeared in the doorway of his study.

"How'd I know what?"

"That I was originally from St. Binah?"

"You were too young to remember, lad, but I dandled you on my knee more than once when I was visiting Albert. You were a bright little scrap, always asking me questions about everything. Of course, Albert would never admit the truth, but the older you got the more obvious it became."

"Wait…Gus…he called you Gus…that was you? You always gave me candy. I do remember…you called me…Parrot."

_Running to greet the visitor, laughing as he was lifted up onto a lap and a piece of peppermint pressed into his hand. "There's my Parrot. Got a bunch new words for you today, Parrot. And more candy if you get them right."_

"Your mother was always dressing you up in bright colors, and you had this habit of repeating back anything interesting you heard. I used to amuse myself by teaching you ridiculously long words just to hear you try and pronounce them."

Saphir, startled by this new information, sat down next to the old man, who chuckled. "Truth is son, I had an ulterior motive for those visits. Glenn's mother was gone and I was lonely, and Molly…your mother was a beauty, Saphir. A real beauty. I fell in love with her almost immediately, and you as well. I begged her more than once to marry me, let me adopt you, give Glenn a new mother and little brother in the bargain. But she always refused; she'd had her heart broken once and she wasn't about to let it happen again. Then she took you and moved away. I always kept track, discreetly, over the years, of what had happened to you both."

General McGovern sighed. "After she died, I considered sending for you, bringing you back here, but I thought, no, lad won't even remember me now, and ripping him away from his friends won't do him a bit of good."

"Has…Albert…does he know I'm here?"

"Has he asked about you, you mean? No. I wondered if the old fool would stop by, come to his senses at last, what with you being so close at hand and all, but…you know it's not your fault, don't you? Your mother was young and he took terrible advantage of that. She stayed as long as she could, hoping he'd accept you, but…young idiots become old idiots. I'm sorry you were caught up in the whole mess of it."

Saphir didn't have a response to that and McGovern didn't seem to expect one. The old man reached over to pat his hand. "But I'll tell you this. I may never had had the chance to be your father, but that doesn't mean I'm not chock full of some good fatherly advice. Glenn, bless and curse him, was a little angel. Never seemed to need all my wisdom, and I'd been so much looking forward to sharing it. If you find yourself in need, or can't figure out how to reel in Jade's boy, you know where to find me."

Saphir looked over his shoulder. Jade was still asleep, and he didn't want his lover to overhear.

"You know, I may take you up on that. There's one thing, and the advice I've been getting from everyone else is a bit biased…."

************************************

Guy's greeting to Saphir hadn't been nearly as dramatic as Vilo's had been, or as emotional as Jade's had been (for Jade, anyway). He'd stayed away in the beginning, allowing Saphir to have some private time with his family. But he took the first opportunity available to see for himself that his friend and mentor was really in one piece, and his simple "I'm so glad" meant almost as much to Saphir as his family's joy.

"Are we ready to get out of here?" The young man was asking now from the pilot seat.

"We need to make a small stop along the way." Saphir's tone was reluctant as he glanced down at the cheagle in his lap. "I need to make sure Max gets home alright. I owe her that much, at least."

"Mieu!" Max shook her head firmly, and pointed at Saphir.

"What? Max, darling, you can't be serious. Not that I wouldn't be thrilled but…I've talked to you about how dangerous it is right now."

Max shrugged and pointed at Saphir again.

"Well…if you insist, but that's really up to Jade. It's his home. Or at least it will be as soon as he finds another one for us all."

"Say yes, Dad. She's so cute; you just have to say yes."

Jade sighed as his lover, his son, and Max stared hopefully up at him. Even Guy was giving him a look that advised him it would not be in his best interest to be a heartless bastard at the moment.

"Fine. My family already includes a preening lunatic, a street urchin, and a robot. What the hell? Why not throw a cheagle in for good measure? However, Max has another family and they deserve the peace of mind of knowing she hasn't been eaten by monsters. I do want to stop by the Cheagle woods and update the Elder on her status."

"You're the boss, Jade." Guy started up the plane's engine. "Cheagle woods it is."

Saphir gave Jade a strange look. Jade had that "I'm up to something but I'm not going to tell you what it is so don't even bother asking" expression. Oh well, whatever it was couldn't be too serious; what was there to do in the Cheagle woods after all?

**********************************

"I'm back." Jade's footsteps rang on the metal stairs of the Albiore.

"About time." Saphir griped. "Did you have to explain the story to every single cheagle there?"

"For your information, after I was done with the Elder I stopped to have a very nice conversation with Mieu. He's a dear old friend, after all."

Max made a noise of derision and Vilo giggled. "Something tells me she's not Mieu's biggest fan."

"Well, maybe…" Jade pulled something out of the inside of his jacket. "She should tell you that herself."

Saphir started blankly at the object in Jade's hand, but it was Guy who recognized it first. "Whoa! The Sorcerer's Ring?"

"_A _Sorcerer's Ring." Jade sounded smug. "They refused to lend me theirs, something about it not being a matter of life and death. So…"

"Fomicry! You replicated it!" Saphir was stunned.

"It was for a very good cause. Now given that this is a replica, I'm not entirely sure how powerful it's going to be. Max?" He offered the little cheagle the ring, and she solemnly stepped into it. It was a little snugger on her than it had been on Mieu, but still fit well enough.

Max turned around a few times, admiring it, while everyone waited.

"Looks much better on me than it ever did on that idiot." She finally decided. "Does it work? Can you understand me?"

Saphir nodded. "Very clearly, darling." He knew he was grinning like an idiot but didn't care.

"Good. Man, that was frustrating." The cheagle hopped back up next to him. "So as I was trying to say before, you better not even think of trying to get rid of me. Do you know how boring the woods are? I think I liked it better when the ligers were trying to eat us. At least it was exciting."

Jade coughed into his hand, and met Guy's startled look. "She's definitely a bit different than Mieu, it seems."

"Don't get me started." Max had the floor now, and had no intention of surrendering it. "Now can we please go home?"

Jade laughed. "As you wish. Guy?"

"On it."

"Oh, Saphir, I need to tell you about how I got you the lemon gel. You're going to love it. It was so much fun…"

What a motley crew he was gathering, Jade thought to himself. Now he had the responsibility for looking after a not-quite-sane cheagle on top of everything else. Well, what else could he do? Right now Saphir could demand anything out of him and he'd be inclined to grant it.

All he could do was get them all back to Grand Chokmah and into Peony's care, and then… it was time to end this. He realized now that it was impossible to protect them by just reacting to whatever the entity had planned. Saphir's survival had been nothing short of a miracle, but he couldn't just simply keep faith that they'd be granted another. One by one, his little family would be ripped away from him unless he found a way bring this to a close.

But for now, he could simply enjoy being with them, enjoy listening to Max brag about lighting a wagon on fire. Well of course Saphir wouldn't have attached himself to a normal cheagle. If nothing else, Max was going to make things interesting.

*************************************

"Get off me! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Saphir struggled in the iron grip of the larger man, who'd ran at him full speed and grabbed him into a bear-hug before he even realized what was happening.

"Sorry, it's just so good to see you. We thought you were dead." Peony released him.

"Yes, so I've heard." Saphir sighed. "I'm very sorry to disappoint the masses."

"Wow, what a cutie!" Max was staring up at Peony.

"Well, thank you. Same back at you."

"So this is where we'll be staying for now, huh?" Max looked around at the ruins of the palace's main floor. "You really need to fire your housekeeper."

"The upstairs is fine, and that's where everyone is staying. Umm…Jade? Explanation?" Peony motioned at the cheagle.

"This is Max, and she'll explain it to you herself. Suffice it to say we owe her an enormous debt of gratitude and if you could agree to see that she's comfortable…"

"Say no more. I'll assign my best maid to her."

Max looked pleased. Things were going extremely well, even if Saphir had been on his feet way too long and looked far overdue for some rest.

As long as he lived, Saphir didn't think he'd ever forgot seeing the devastation from above for the first time through the Albiore's window. It was as if a giant had reached down and ripped away chunks of the city at random.

He'd covered his reaction in St. Binah to hearing the house had not survived in front of Vilo quite nicely, he thought now. It wouldn't benefit anyone to let on just how upset he really was.

It wasn't the ruined experiments; it was the loss of the home itself. His home, the first real one he'd had in a very long time. The home Jade had taken him into, in spite of the fuss he'd raised about it. The home where he'd finally began to heal after years of madness and obsession. The loss of the library where he and Jade and now Vilo had spent so many quiet evenings just enjoying each other's company. The loss of the huge, curtained bed where his decades-long patience had finally been rewarded and Jade had made love to him for the first time.

Those kind of things were irreplaceable, and while he knew the important thing was that they'd always survived, it still hurt to think that it had all been torn apart at the whim of a monster, and he wanted revenge. He desperately wanted revenge.

"Vilo…" Peony was looking behind Saphir now. "Well, hello there, kiddo."

"Hi…" Vilo gave him a tiny wave. "I need to…um…go upstairs and be grounded." He headed for the staircase.

"You freeze right there!" Peony's voice thundered, and the boy jumped out of his skin. Near the doorway, Jade watched, but said nothing. It wasn't for nothing that Peony was Emperor, and it was time Vilo learned to respect that.

"You do realize that what you did could be considered mutiny?" Peony approached the startled child. "The council wanted you brought up on charges for open rebellion and stealing government property. Luckily I was able to pull rank and save you from a criminal record. Which I only did for your father's sake. You're getting off with a ton of community service and a slap on the wrist."

"Dad…"

"This is out of my hands, Vilo." Jade sounded anything but unhappy. "You broke the law, and it's at His Majesty's discretion as to how you're punished for that. There's certainly no shortage of work to be done in the rebuilding projects. Oh, don't look so sad. You enjoy building things."

"Saphir…come on, stick up for me. I did it for you."

Saphir shook his head. "If Peony wasn't going to punish you for this, I certainly would. I'm not worth risking your life for. What if you'd been killed on this little mission of yours? How do you think I'd have felt knowing it was my fault?"

Without another word, the child stomped up the stairs of the palace, his back tight with anger.

"He'll get over it." Jade noticed the look of guilt on Peony's face. "You handled that extremely well, Your Majesty. If and when you ever do decide to produce an heir, I have high hopes you'll make a decent parent."

"Yeah, well, hopefully my kid won't need a lot of punishment, because I did not enjoy that. Still, I mean, image to protect and all. He made me look stupid. Not a word, Saphir!"

"I said nothing."

"You were about to."

"I don't suppose after this you'll be very open to the idea of returning that chair to its rightful owner?" Saphir asked hopefully.

"Ask me again after the kid is grown and gone."

"Saphir, will you be alright for a while? I have some business to take care of in the city." Jade sounded reluctant. "It's not something I can really put off…"

"Go do what you need to. I'm just going to take an nap, anyway."

"Good, because you look really tired and if you undo all my hard work I'll bite your ankles." Max folded her arms.

"Max, surely you're hungry. Why don't you go to the kitchen and get something to eat." Saphir smiled down at her. "I bet if you asked nicely they might even make you some waffles."

"Waffles?" Peony wrinkled his forehead. "Cheagles eat waffles? I thought they only ate grass."

Max sighed. Cute, but not very bright. "What are waffles made of?"

"Grain…"

"And grain is a…" She waited patiently.

"Grass. Got it. Waffles it is. All you want."

"Perfect. Your Majesty, you and I are gonna get along just fine."

****************************

"_We can enter through the ruins of Akzeriuth, like you did a few years ago, Jade."_

"_And you're sure about this?"_

"_Not completely, but it makes sense. Lorelei was created in the planet's core. A counterpart to Lorelei may have come to life there as well. If so, it may well still be there. Once we're into the core, Noah should be able to ferret out Lẽtum's location from there."_

Jade sat now across from the two men, who watched him from matching, unreadable expressions.

There was no point in putting this off. How many other lives would be forfeit when Lẽtum decided to amuse himself again? It had to be done, but it didn't mean he was going into this blindly.

"Tear, as our healer. Guy for his fighting abilities. Myself, the two of you. I hate asking Anise, but she's grown too strong to squander."

"Saphir's going to demand to go along."

"Which is precisely why he's not going to know that I'm going until after I've gone, and where I've been unable after I return. The same with Vilo."

"Jade, I know you don't want to hear this, but this should be Vilo's choice. He's highly skilled."

"You are correct. I don't wish to hear that. He's eleven; he doesn't get a choice."

Kratos sighed but said nothing else.

"We'll send word to those we wish to bring along. This must succeed, gentlemen. Too many have lost too much already."

_I'm coming for you, you bastard. You'll hurt my family again over my dead body._


	26. Chapter 26: In Vino Veritas

**A/N: **

_The plot of this chapter was originally going to be its own short story (sort of a bridge between "Bonded" and "Vilo's Hymn"). I ended up not doing it at the time because it does change things a bit between Peony and Saphir and I didn't think they were ready yet. The Latin translation of the chapter title is roughly "In wine there is truth". It's really more of an interlude: things are about to get dicey again._

**Chapter 26: In Vino Veritas**

Peony was honestly, truly glad that Saphir was alive. Mainly because he was seriously considering killing the man. He was the Emperor, after all. Saphir was a convicted felon. He could give the order to have him executed at any time. However, not only would Jade more than likely raise an objection to this, but it might make things a little awkward in his relationship with Vilo as well. Not to mention having one extremely loyal and pissed-off cheagle to deal with on top of it all.

Saphir had never, in as long as Peony had known him, been content with inactivity. His over-developed brain demanded stimulation, craved it like a drug, and if he wasn't constantly busy with something he chafed. And when he was unhappy, he tended to take that unhappiness out on those around him. Namely one normally loved-by-all Emperor, and the serving staff at the palace (most of whom had, in the last four days, threatened to resign if "that horrid little man" didn't immediately stop harassing them.)

The problem had started on Saphir's very first morning here, when he'd gotten in a shouting match with the head cook about whose job it was to prepare breakfast for Jade and Vilo. It had very nearly come to blows before a bleary-eyed Jade had appeared to drag Saphir out of the kitchen and away from any sharp objects (and angry cooks). Peony had hoped it would end there. He'd hoped in vain.

Without even his experiments to occupy his time, he'd focused on the maids, who could never able get anything clean enough to suit his tastes. Not to mention the poor things were discombobulated as it was, with everyone being forced to live in the upstairs of the palace for now. And never mind that it was impossible to get upstairs without tracking debris from the downstairs up; Saphir couldn't have cared less. He took to following the women around with cleaning supplies of his own, "correcting" their efforts, much to their irritation. They were a proud bunch, Peony's maids. Only the cream of the crop were given the honor of serving in the palace, after all. Only fear of Jade kept them from declaring open warfare on Saphir.

The fact that Saphir's own dear, departed mother had been a maid seemed to make no difference; he was very quick to point out how she had done things, and that no dust ever gathered on the tops of her windows, that her freshly-made beds never had a single wrinkle. The staff was almost as sick of Saphir's sainted mother as they were of him.

He was also universally hated now in the laundry, but had grudgingly agreed to leave it alone (after one laundress, having had enough, shoved him into a full washtub, earning her the applause of her coworkers). The laundress had no fear of Jade, or of anything else for that matter.

Peony blamed a good chunk of Saphir's pent-up frustration on his old friend. He knew, because he was good at finding out things that were none of his business, that Jade had been, to put it bluntly, holding out on Saphir in certain areas. His reasoning was that Saphir needed to regain his strength and shouldn't be indulging in anything too strenuous right now. As if tormenting a palace full of servants wasn't strenuous.

It was worse today because Jade had accompanied Vilo on his "community service" assignment and he wasn't expecting either one of them back until later tonight. Even little Max had gone with them to assist, although Peony felt it was more likely she was just incredibly nosy. Vilo had also taken Willy along because after his charge had escaped him and flown away the little robot wasn't taking any chances in letting the boy out of his sight. This left Peony alone (not counting the servants, who really weren't speaking to him) with a very cranky, very bored Saphir. And not the pudgy, lovable Saphir who nibbled on his toes at night and would immediately flop on his back at the sound of "belly time!" (If the human Saphir did those things with Jade, Peony had absolutely no interest in finding out.)

It was really too bad the palace dungeon was still under water. At least they'd managed to rescue the contents of the wine cellar…

Peony paused for a moment, and Perry (who had been engaging him in a lively game of "whose sock is it, anyway?") cocked his head at the Emperor in confusion.

"Hey, if they're going to make me baby-sit a grown man, I might as well have some fun with it, right?"

Perry squealed in agreement.

"That's why I like you, Perry. You've got a lot of common sense."

**************************

Saphir looked around the balcony suspiciously. "You're planning on throwing me off, aren't you?" The note delivered to him had simply requested his presence here at this time, with the hated line that it was an "official order". It was a peaceful evening, and he could see the city stretching out below them, here the muted sounds of Grand Chokmah hunkering down for the evening. Not nearly as many sounds as there used to be, or should be, but in bits and pieces his home was springing back to life.

"Of course not. That's silly." Peony gestured at the food on the table, and the two large bottles of wine, one next to each plate. "I poisoned your dinner. Not nearly as messy. Come on, Scrawny. Sit down and eat, keep me company." Peony hadn't told the cooks the meal was for Saphir as well; he'd wanted to make sure it didn't get tampered with. The previous night, somehow Saphir's soup had 'accidentally' contained three times the usual amount of salt. His eggs this morning had contained so many bits of shell they crunched, and his tea-cup had mysteriously cracked, dumping hot liquid onto his lap.

"And I would agree to have dinner with you because…"

"Because I'm your Emperor and I said so."

"Oh, very mature. But it so happens I'm hungry. Your cooks are the most incompetent bunch I've ever seen. Might as well get this over with." Saphir sat down and scraped the metal chair closer to the glazed outdoor table. His eyes fell on his wine bottle. "Is that…"

"1875 Grenlow? Got a good deal on a case of it. Goes well with veal. Try it."

Saphir poured the wine into his glass, took a sip, and his eyes narrowed in appreciation. "Well, seems you do have some taste after all." He took a larger gulp and eyed his plate. The veal cutlet smelled faintly of sage, and was surrounded by creamed spinach, a personal favorite of his.

"So what exactly is all this about? If this is some…seduction attempt…"

Peony choked on his own drink. Saphir smirked and took a bite of his veal. It tasted as wonderful as it looked.

"You…did…*cough*…that on purpose…*gasp*"

When he was finally able to breathe again, Peony gave Saphir a baleful look. "See? That's what this is about. You and I always doing this. Don't you think it's time we laid it all to rest? We're in our mid-thirties; it's childish and stupid. This is a truce dinner."

"Pointless." Saphir poured himself more wine. "Did Jade put you up to this?"

"No. This was entirely my idea. Why not? If Malkuth can make peace with Kimlasca, why can't you and I declare a cease-fire?" He poured again from his own bottle. "A toast? To new beginnings?"

"I refuse."

"Why?"

"Because…well, because we just can't, that's why."

"Now who's being immature?"

"I have no patience with idiots, that's why."

"Okay, let's address that right now. I'm not on your level or Jade's level, but believe it or not they did test me in school and I always scored right about average. Not bright, not dumb. Happy medium. If I were really as stupid as you claim, Malkuth would be in pretty bad shape right now."

Saphir was on his third glass of wine by now, and the Emperor across from him was starting to blur nicely in the twilight. "The rappigs…"

"You didn't mind Perry. You wanted to keep Perry, if I recall." Peony's speech was beginning to sound slurred. "Practically had to sue you for custody."

"Jade…"

"Now we get down to it. Jade, huh? Always about Jade."

"He was all I had!" Saphir slammed the glass down on the table.

"He was all I had too!" Peony slammed his own down. "Everything I knew was off-limits. My mother, my father, my siblings, my friends. I was all alone with a bunch of guards and servants in this strange place, and not allowed to go out outside on my own. And here was Jade, who was like no one else I'd ever met in my life, willing to be my friend and not caring one bit that I was a prince. It didn't matter to him; it always mattered, to everyone. No one ever had the...guts… to tell me the truth because they were always too afraid I might yell "off with his head!" or something. He treated me like a person, not like some royal statue."

"Everyone adored you!" Saphir's face was crimson.

"Everyone adored the fact that I was a prince. Everyone thought that if they got on my good side I'd remember it when I took over the throne." He drained the last of his glass. "I wasn't trying to steal him from you; I just wanted you to share. Was that so much to ask?"

"Yes!" The world swam. "Why should I be expected to share the one thing I'd ever had in my life that was completely mine? Until you came along, it certainly wasn't like anyone else wanted him!"

Peony burst out laughing. "That's true, I guess. He was a real piece of work, wasn't he? Still is…"

"When…when Jade got me into the school I thought I'd make other friends. But no one wanted to…just…maid's son. No one. Always a no one." Saphir's voice was bitter. "When I was with him, I was someone. I was important. He needed me."

"He was devastated when you left him. Does he ever talk to you about that?"

"No…"

"Oh, not on the outside. He searched for you everywhere. Of course, he claimed it was to stop you from doing something stupid, but I wasn't fooled. It had never even occurred to him that someday he might have to figure out…how to get by without you. You did everything; you made sure he remembered to eat. You laid out his clothing each day. You pointed out flaws in his ideas because your _no one_ self was smart enough to catch them. He was totally lost without you. It was like he'd lost an arm or an eye, something he just…took for granted until it was too late."

"He should have looked harder! He could have stopped me…"

"I told him to stop." Peony was staring out into the distance. "I told him that you just needed to blow off some steam, that you'd come crawling back with your tail between your legs any day. So he waited, and waited, but I was wrong…you didn't come back, and when he did finally find you, you weren't you any more. You were Dist, and he never, ever wanted Dist."

"You had him all to yourself. Bet you were happy….then."

"Hell no, I wasn't happy, cause he wasn't…happy. He just kept pretending he didn't give a damn…kept it up for a long time. Too proud to admit he wasn't…okay." Peony finished the last of his veal and sat the fork down on the empty plate.

"Why're you telling me this? Make me feel guilty?" Saphir was dimly aware that his grammar skills were abandoning ship, but it felt strangely pleasant somehow.

"No, stupid, cause I feel guilty. Should have told him to keep looking…but I didn't think it would come to what it did. I can't just…have him to myself because he needs you too. But he needs me, cause I can tell him to his face when he's being a jerk. He wasn't scared of me being a prince, and I'm not scared of him being Jade…I'm good for him. You know that. You know how few real friends he has."

"So what…we…saw him in half or something? I'm…stealing the rest of this wine. Too good to waste on rappigs…"

"They don't…*giggle* get wine. Upsets their tummies…"

For some reason Saphir found that hysterical and began laughing like an idiot. "Sasha…liked wine."

"That was…course it was you! You…fiend! You…poor Sasha…wrecked the whole mansion. Bastard!" But Peony was laughing too, remembering his drunken pet going on a rampage, his Keterburg maids running around in hysterics trying to corral the animal.

"Served you right… you…you taught my poor robot to dance!"

"Robot was good, too."

"Course it was good. I made it good. Not supposed to dance though."

"Think Willy can dance?"

"Dunno…maybe." Saphir leaned back in the metal chair and closed his eyes, the spinning night making him nauseous. He didn't know about Willy, but the world was certainly dancing beautifully…

"Jade's found you 'nother house. Supposed to be a pursprise. Is that a word? Doesn't sound right."

"Drunken sot. It's…sursprise…isn't it?"

"Something like that…anyway, he found it, nice house. Water didn't do too much damage there…already fixed. He's gonna show you and the kid tomorrow. Nice, big house, lot better than you old one. Big basement. Act sersprised, 'kay?"

"Better be nice. Can't exactly walk away and leave it if I don't like it…"

"Phir…gotta be this way, man. Gotta be. Council nearly tore my damn head off about this whole 'Bonding' thing. But I had the right…Emperor can do that. What he can't do…can't give a pardon without full Council approval. Not allowed. Can't just…let you go. Know you're not gonna do anything. Know you're okay now…but…this is the best I can do…"

"I know that…what're you…"

Peony had risen to his feet and walked over to the edge of the balcony, his back to Saphir, his front against the white wooden railing.

"What're…you doing?"

"What're…you think I'm doin…?"

"That's…disgusting…pig…"

"Someone screams…I'll stop…"

Saphir started laughing again, so hard that this time he fell completely off his chair and hit the floor of the balcony.

"You know….great, great, great…grandfather…Emperor…don't remember what the hell his name was…passed a law that said…woman couldn't buy a hat unless her husband tried it on first?" Peony returned to the table and was peering down at the crumpled heap of Saphir. "Don't know why…" He got up again and sat down next Saphir. "Silly family, eh?"

"Yup. Never been…this drunk… this…you did this on purpose."

"Yup…figured…you won't talk to me otherwise… Mr. Fussy."

"Jade's gonna be mad at me…"

"Nah…he won't. Right now….he's not gonna be mad at you about much. He thinks it's funny, you picking on my maids. Says it keeps you occupied. That's why he…wants…get you into the new house. Lucky, man. Not many people…get loved that mush…much."

"What 'bout you? Why…she's gone, dummy. Done. Happy. Not comin' back. Move on."

"Someday. Not yet….someday."

They sat in silence for another few minutes, and it reminded Saphir of the night he'd told Max the truth about himself. He felt wonderfully heavy and giddy from the strong wine, and didn't even mind the company right now.

"Do yerself a favor, Saphir. Jade'll be home soon. Make him…give you what you want. Don't let him say no."

"Think I'll do just that…" Saphir lurched to his feet. "Soon as I…think I forgot how to walk."

"Come on…I'll 'scort you."

The two men made their staggering way back into the palace and to the chamber Saphir and Jade were temporarily sharing. "Go…get 'em, liger."

"If…I wasn't so drunk…be very offended. Personal life…" Saphir looked around the room. "You…better leave. Gonna be naked when Jade gets here…"

"On my way…have fun." Peony waved and pulled the heavy door of the chamber shut behind him. The sway vanished from his step and the confused, sotted expression from his face. He began to whistle a nameless tune as he walked back toward his own chamber, grinning from ear to ear.

_Oh Saphir, sometimes you're so naïve it's just too funny. I'll have to remember to get some of that wine for myself tonight. My grape juice just wasn't quite the same…_


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N:**

_Vilo's questions to Saphir may seem a bit…unlikely for a boy his age, but keep in mind the environment he was raised in. Sex was a business to his mother and her friends, and he doesn't see it as any big deal. Certainly not as something inappropriate to talk about. As for Max, there's an old adage that if you save a life you're responsible for that life (good or bad). So she pretty much considers everything about Saphir her business. _

_As always to those who have stuck with me through nearly 30 chapters of this so far, you are the best. The absolutely best. I pretty much started writing this just for myself, not thinking anyone would ever want to read it. I'm touched and humbled, and ask for a little indulgence as we enter the home stretch. _

**Chapter 27**

"I'm very sure this is a misuse of my abilities." Vilo peered down at the figure sprawled on the bed, his head buried in a pillow and his skin slightly green. "Don't you feel any shame for taking advantage of an innocent child?"

"You're as innocent as sin. Shut up and hum already."

The boy sighed and placed his hands on Saphir's arm, letting the healing energy flow into the man. "Curing hang-overs. Well, you're always telling me I'm destined for greatness. Somewhere in the world, there's a tavern alley just waiting for me."

Saphir turned his head, finally able to do so without the marching band breaking into another joyful rendition of "Hail to the Emperor". Speaking of which… "You better go heal Peony next. He's probably still passed out somewhere."

"No, he's fine. He says he never gets hangovers." Vilo sat down on the edge of the bed. "I just saw him a little while ago."

"Figures. Absolutely figures." Saphir sat up slowly. "Where's your father?"

"Downstairs. He said he wanted to let you 'sleep the rest of it off'. I was also told that under no circumstances was I allowed to 'cure your stupidity'."

Saphir cocked an eyebrow and Vilo shrugged. "I'm at a rebellious age. So did he do what Peony told him to?"

"I'm sorry?"

The boy gave him a wolfish grin. "Soon as we got back last night, maid handed him a letter from Peony. Told him it was an official order. He read it and got such a strange look on his face that I had to see for myself. Snatched it right out of his hands. It told him that he needed to immediately get up here and…well, did he?"

"Yeah, Saphir." Max had bounded in and jumped up on the bed. "Did he?"

Saphir flopped back down and buried his head in the pillow again. "That is none of your business, either of you!"

"He's blushing. He looks all pink; we match." Max was delighted. She reached over to pat Saphir's shoulder. "You're so cute like this, Saphir."

"Maybe he won't be in such a crabby mood now."

"Ahem."

Vilo jumped as his father entered the room. "I'm going to assume that, as usual, my orders were disobeyed. How's your head, Saphir? All better now?"

"Much, thank you." Saphir's voice was muffled.

"Good, get dressed. I've got a surprise for you and Vilo."

"What kind of surprise?" Vilo asked, suspicious. "Sometimes your surprises are kind of mean, Dad."

"That's because when I say 'surprise' you just assume I mean a good one. That's hardly my fault. But this one is a very pleasant one, I promise."

"I'm coming too!" Max demanded. "I like surprises, even bad ones."

"Of course you're coming too. I wouldn't dream of anything else." Jade sighed. In truth, he wasn't quite as fond of Saphir's little friend as Saphir was, and Max had made it clear more than once that she didn't think he treated his partner as well as he deserved. They were learning to tolerate each other, might in time even become great friends, but he sensed that day might still be a long way in the future. He deeply regretted his decision to gift the cheagle with a bootleg Sorcerer's Ring, but there was no help for it now and should the ring mysteriously vanish he knew exactly who'd they'd blame.

Max now sniffed Saphir. "Get a shower first. You smell almost as bad as you did when we were on the road."

"Thank you, dear. I'm flattered."

"And if it's far, you need to have a carriage for him. He's not strong enough to walk very far on his own. Especially after you exhausted him last night."

Jade shook his head. "Yes, Max, the carriage has already been arranged. I'd have servants to rub his feet along the way if they didn't all want him dead. Does that satisfy you?"

Max considered. "For now. Make sure you bring food along. He's still too skinny."

"He's always been skinny. He'll always be skinny. There's nothing either one of us can do to rectify that. Now if you'll excuse us…"

_Before I learn a new recipe for cheagle soup…_

After Vilo and the Max had left, Saphir managed to roll himself out of bed. His stomach gave a small lurch of protest, but other than that the worst effects were gone. Vilo's healing had been useful in curing the discomfort caused by more than just too much good wine.

"How much to you remember of last night, anyway?" Jade's expression was smug.

"All of it. I remember the look on your face when you walked in here…" Saphir snicked at the memory.

"Well, it was something of a shock. You're usually not quite _that _brazen. I'm consumed with guilt now that I took advantage of someone clearly not in their right facilities."

"If you hadn't, you'd be feeling a lot more guilt right now, as you scraped my broken body off the rocks below."

"There's grass below the window. At most you would have broken both your legs and possibly your spine."

"Well, luckily it didn't come to that. You notice I'm not complaining right now. I could use a bit of help in the shower, though…wouldn't do to strain myself."

"Here I've been trying to be such a good boy, exerting all my self control. Well, I won't be responsible for the consequences of my actions. I'll get the soap."

***************************

On the dusty streets of Chesedonia, Vilo had seen some horrible, unspeaking things in his short life. Things that a person couldn't talk about without their breakfast trying to escape. Things that would make a warrior weep.

This…this pretty much topped them all.

The basement was easily twice the size of the one at Jade's old house. It was completely finished where the other had been cement. Wallpaper, carpet…there was just one small flaw.

It was…pink.

Not just pink. It was multiple shades of pink. Light pink, dark pink, medium pink. Pink outlines of flowers on the floor, pink flowers running across the walls. The ceiling, at least, wasn't pink.

That was purple. But decorated with pink flowers.

The boy hit his knees, wailing in agony. "My eyes! Daddy, my eyes are burning! Make it stop!"

Jade said nothing to comfort his traumatized child. He was instead watching Saphir, who was gazing at the garish basement in absolute, undisguised delight.

"Well?"

"It's perfect!"

"No, no it's not perfect!" Vilo jumped to his feet. "I'm gonna have to work down here too, you know! I can't do it! I just can't! Please, Saphir, have some mercy. I cured your headache. Isn't that worth something?"

"Well, I like it." Max sounded put out by Vilo's reaction. "It's beautiful. We'll take it, right Saphir?"

"Right, my darling. When can we move in?" He turned to Jade, as eager as a child (at least, a child who was not, at the moment, Vilo.)

"Not for a while yet. I haven't even ordered the furniture. I'll need your help on that."

"Oh no." Vilo was horrified. "No, he cannot make the whole house pink!"

"He'll use discretion, I promise." Jade winked at Saphir. "If we let him have this…area for his own, he may show us some restraint when it comes to the main living space."

"I promise to be kind, Vilo." Saphir was too happy to be offended by the boy's reaction.

"Come on, I wanted to show you this first, but let's go back upstairs. There's more to see."

************************

Saphir was still inside the house, making mental plans on where to put everything, and how to make the largest dent in Jade's personal savings possible. The cottage had been designed for simplicity; to be a perfectly functional home for a man who had neither the time nor the energy for anything overly complicated.

This house he had much different plans for. Depending on how much Jade and his boy actually would let him get away with. A little elegance had never killed anyone, after all.

Jade and Vilo had gone outside to explore the large yard and currently bare garden area. While the home had weathered the storm extremely well, the original owners had not; Jade heard they'd relocated to Engeve. Taking with them the twin pre-teen daughters who had obviously claimed the basement as their own domain.

"Do you like it?" Jade finally asked at last. "Do you think you'll be happy here?"

"Yeah, it's great. My room's about three times the size of my old one. You did good, Dad."

Jade was quiet again for a moment, and Vilo glanced him sideways, waiting.

"Sometimes, I think, you received a double blow." He gave Vilo a half-smile. "It doesn't sound like your mother was all hugs-and-kisses, and I'm certainly not anyone's idea of cuddly. I regret that, and it makes me doubly glad Saphir is around because he can offer you that kind of open affection. But it doesn't mean that I don't care about you, or that I'm not glad every day that you came into my life."

Vilo toed the grass, trying not to look as pleased as he was.

"I've never kept the danger we're all in a secret from you. I want to be able to make you a promise that I'll be around to intimidate my grandchildren, but the truth is I have no idea. My will divides everything between you and Saphir. Your portion will be in the form of a trust fund, administrated by Peony and payable to you once you turn twenty. He and Nephry can hash out who gets custody the pair of you, but the will stipulates that you aren't to be separated. When you do come of age, if you want to take over Saphir's Bond you'll have that right."

Vilo digested that for a moment. "You're going away, aren't you?"

"Vilo…"

"I can tell. You're going away and you're going to do something really dangerous and you don't want us to know about it." Vilo sounded resigned, not angry. "You're going to leave us behind."

Jade said nothing.

If this had been a story, this would have been the part where Jade handed him some old keepsake to hold on to until his return. A pocket-watch, or a ring, or something. Yeah, like Jade was sentimental enough to have something like that.

"You'll come back." The boy laughed suddenly, to Jade's surprise. "I thought Virgil was just trying to tell me not to worry about Saphir, but I see now. He wanted me to know that it all turns out okay in the end; that we all make it through."

Jade considered arguing reality to the boy again, and then decided against it. "Well, if anyone's child can figure out how to send a message through time it would be Saphir's."

"I told him the other bedroom would make a good nursery."

"You are to stop pestering him on this. It's his decision and his alone."

"Well, then you better make sure you come back soon and stop me."

Jade knelt down and pulled his son close, and Vilo clung tightly to him. "I promise I will do everything in my power to end this. But if I die in the effort, I want a promise from you as well." He pulled back so he could look in the boy's eyes. "I want you to focus on your education, and grow up into the man I know you have the potential to become. Heaven knows I never wanted any kind of legacy, but I think…I think with you I won't mind."

"There's no other way?"

"None that I can think of. I can't protect you, Vilo, not like this. I have to stop him before he comes after you and after Saphir again."

"You will. I know you will."

"Because of Virgil?"

"No. Because you're you. I believe in you, Dad."

"Are you trying to soften me up into allowing you to go along?"

A wicked grin. "Did it work?"

"Not one bit. Come on, let's go round up Saphir. And not a word to him, Vilo. I mean it. He's not going to handle this well at all, and I want to be long gone before he finds out."

He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and they headed back toward the house.

Would he ever get a chance to live here, Jade wondered. Would any of them? It wasn't like they were going to allow Saphir and Vilo to stay here alone. He'd arranged for that, arranged for the house to be held in trust as well for Vilo, but would he even want it by that time? Maybe he should have waited before snapping it up, but after seeing that hideous, wretched basement…it had just seemed like a sign, and he didn't usually believe in signs.

_Virgil, if you do exist somewhere in the future, I sincerely hope you know what you're talking about. I wish I could share Vilo's faith that this will all be over soon. I even wish I could share his faith that you're waiting for us. The more he talks about you, the stronger my desire to meet you becomes. Sometimes I think, this can't possibly be me. I can't possibly have sunk to this level. House-shopping? Considering the possibility of rearing another child, one not even mine? How could I even consider wanting those things?_

_But I do. Heavens help me, I do. _

********************************

The lotion was imported from Chesedonia and outrageously expensive, and Saphir never even considered retiring for the evening until he'd slathered it all over himself as part of his "beauty ritual." Jade didn't mind; it had a light, sweet scent that he liked, one that was now permanently etched in his brain as simply "Saphir".

He was laying there now on the silk sheets, with Saphir cradled in his arms, just breathing the smell of the lotion, trying to also burn the events of the day into his mind as well. He'd done his absolutely best to hide the truth from his lover; not to let Saphir know that he intended to be gone before the sun rose. If this was going to be their last night, and he honestly didn't know, then he didn't want their final hours together to be spent arguing. If the worst did happen, and he'd left here with Saphir flinging obscenities at his back, he knew that his lover would never forgive himself.

"I really can't wait to be gone from here." Saphir spoke at last. "Into our own place again."

Jade laughed. "Only you, love, would complain about being stuck in a palace, living in luxury and not having to lift a finger."

Not long after they'd become lovers, Jade had suggested (with the best of intentions) that they hire a permanent maid so that Saphir could focus on his experiments. The other reason, not mentioned, was that he wasn't comfortable having a lover forced to slave after him, even if it was his Bond servant. Saphir had reacted so poorly to the idea that he'd never had the courage to bring it up again.

The truth, as hard as it might have been for other people to accept, was that Saphir did the household chores because he enjoyed doing them, enjoyed looking after Jade and now Vilo as well. It was, as he put it, his "job" and he took it very seriously. The idea of some stranger invading his domain and taking over horrified him. Plus, after seeing how badly Saphir treated the palace servants, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to subject some poor young woman to that kind of abuse. Assuming they could get anyone to stay.

Still, he couldn't resist teasing Saphir a little bit now. "It's a much larger house. Are you sure you won't want some help keeping it in order? Just today I heard the parlor maid Francine telling Peony he better start looking for a replacement."

Saphir made a noise of derision. "If I decide I need help, I'll build it. Jade…"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you really think my son is out there, waiting for me?"

"I couldn't begin to tell you. I've learned not to declare anything impossible."

"I had a long talk with McGovern. I won't bore you with the details, but he told me something that I can't shake. That yes, a child of mine might have a bumpy life, and not always a happy life, but that I had to weight that against no life at all. I'm not completely convinced, mind you, but I'm…wavering."

_I'm definitely wavering…_

**************************************

"_So you left the next day."_

"_Yes. I'd been in touch with the others and they were waiting for me. No one else knew I was going except for Vilo, and only because he guessed. I left letters for Peony and Saphir and was gone before the sun rose."_

"_And Daddy was mad."_

"_Well, I wasn't there, of course, but I hear he threw a tantrum of almost epic proportions. Whether it was because he was worried for my safety or just furious that I hadn't shared my plans with him, or both I couldn't tell you. He demanded Peony sent people after me, which would have been rather difficult because I'd neglected to tell them where I was going."_

"_Then what happened?"_

"_We headed for Akzeriuth in the Albiore. Myself, Kratos, Noah, Tear, Guy, and Anise. She'd had some troubles of her own slipping away without Florian, but she was loath to put him in any danger. We knew, all of us, that there was a good chance we wouldn't be returning. My only hope was that if we were to forfeit our lives, we'd take the beast down with us."_

"_What's the core like?"_

"_Impossible to describe. You'd have to see it for yourself. It's like no where else you could ever imagine."_

"_Can I see it?"_

"_When you're older. I think you should see it, at least once. I took your brother on an odyssey of sorts when when he turned fifteen, showed him all the places that had only been stories to him up until then. I'll do the same for you."_

"_That's forever."_

"_Not so long, not nearly as long as you might think, and it will come much too soon as far as I'm concerned. Boys that age become incredibly prickly; you're still young enough not to take everything I say as a personal insult and react accordingly."_

"_So you took the plane into the core…"_

"_Yes, and we put our faith in Noah to lead us in the right direction. The core, you know, isn't exactly a tiny place…"_


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N:**

_Just as an FYI for those who are not familiar with the word, a 'fop' is a man who is extremely fussy about his appearance and clothing and is usually extremely conceited. IE Dist. It is not a derogatory term for sexual preference. I considered whether or not to include the 2nd part of the flashback but decided to go for it. It just really came out of nowhere and wanted to be written._

**Chapter 28**

_Jade had been absorbed in the book, the formulas and ideas crisscrossing his brain as he read, and felt he just on the verge of a break-through when a loud, piercing wail forced him rudely back to reality._

_The door of the library burst open and Saphir, his face bruised and bloody and his clothing torn, came running into the room and right for him. Jade only had a moment to brace himself before the little boy was in his arms, crying so hard Jade couldn't even make out what he was saying. _

_He made himself stay calm, trying to think rationally even if Saphir wasn't able to at the moment. Jade kept repeating the child's name, trying to break through his hysteria and get his attention. _

"_Who was it, Saphir? What did they do to you?"_

"_My plane! Reggie Martingale and his friends took my plane and hit me and they wouldn't stop and I worked so hard on that plane and…" Saphir was lost again._

_The plane was a thing of beauty, one of Saphir's most impressive inventions yet. Using the power of the 3__rd__ Fonon to stay aloft, and controlled entirely by a small device that emitted sounds too high for the human ear to perceive, they'd just finished the prototype last week. Some adjustments had to be made; the original device had caused every dog in the neighborhood to go insane and they'd traded a little bit of finesse on the finished product in order to avoid that. _

_Jade avoided scolding the nine-year-old and he was proud of himself for that. He'd told his pet not to fly the plane in public without him, but he'd wanted to study and Saphir had obviously given into temptation with predictable results. Still, those results were not Saphir's fault and Reggie Martingale would need to be taught a lesson. Immediately._

"_Calm down, Saphir. Stop sniveling; you know I hate that. I'll go get your plane back." Jade stood up and stretched. "You stay here, and try and get cleaned up before your mother sees you. You know where I keep the spare apple gels in my room; go get yourself one."_

"_Really? Thank you Jade. I'm sorry, I know you told me not to…"_

"_Enough. He'll never bother you again." Jade sounded impatient, eager to be gone. "I promise."_

_It hadn't taken him very long to find Reggie and his pack of cronies in a small park, especially since they were still playing with Saphir's plane, making it nose-dive toward the ground and causing it to pull up at the last moment. "This is so awesome! Wonder where the runt got it?"_

"_He made it." Jade spoke calmly. "I helped him with the fine details. Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to steal? Well, before she ran off with the butcher, that is?"_

_Reggie wheeled around and snatched the plane out of the air. He was a year older than Jade and taller, but for all that his skin had turned milky white and the aggressive stance he now took didn't match up with the fear in his eyes. "What do you want, Balfour?"_

"_Saphir's plane back, for starters. Then…" Jade smiled. "Whatever strikes my fancy."_

"_Yeah, what're you gonna do if I decide to keep it? You can't hurt me! They'll kick you out of town if you do." Out of the corner of his eye Jade noticed the other boys slowly backing away. Once clear, they to a man turned and fled._

"_I'm terrified." Jade took a step forward and held out his hand. "Saphir's plane. Now."_

"_What's the matter? Your boyfriend can't fight his own battles?" Reggie took a step back._

"_I won't ask you again. The plane."_

"_No."_

"_Just what I was hoping you'd say." Jade stared downward for a moment and Reggie's eyes followed. The boy suddenly screamed in terror as the cuffs of his pants began to spark and sizzle. He dropped to his knees and began frantically coating them with snow before they could completely burst into flames._

"_I can make your entire body go up in a blaze of glory. I can fill your lungs with water." Jade was moving forward slowly. "I can burn you to the ground with lightning. And as you had no moral issues with hurting my servant I'd enjoy it." He knelt down and took the controller from Reggie's limp right hand and picked the plane up off the ground, grimacing at the growing puddle melting the snow under the boy._

"_In the future, anything that happens to Saphir will be returned ten-fold. Do I make myself clear? I want no misunderstandings, now." Jade glanced at the boy's pants again. "You may want to get changed before that freezes."_

_Reggie scrambled to his feet and took off without a backward glance._

_Once back home and pleased with himself, Jade returned to his room where a now healed and clean Saphir was waiting for him. _

"_Here." Jade thrust the plane and controller out to him. "Problem solved."_

"_Thank you, Jade. For that, and the apple gel, and…"_

_Jade held up his hand to stop the annoying praise. "Don't I always look out for you?"_

_The boy nodded shyly._

"_You take care of me, Saphir, and I'll take care of you. That's how a good partnership works."_

_////////////////////////////////_

_Five years…_

_Five years of looking while pretending not to be looking, pretending not to care and not to worry. Five years of examining faces in crowds…always with one eye open, one ear cocked, always waiting. Five years of an emptiness not even burying himself entirely in his work couldn't fill. That not even Peony, brother of his heart if not his flesh, could ease._

_Even now, he still wasn't all that hopeful. Rumors were rumors, after all. Other than a vague description from a distance there was nothing to connect his long-missing servant (go ahead and admit it, coward, your friend) with this shadowy Dist the Reaper he'd been hearing about off and on. It was foolishness; Saphir never cared about the Score one way or another. Why would he have come to Daath and joined the people dedicated to upholding it?_

_And why hide? He'd broken no laws, at least not yet, not that Jade knew about in any case. He'd been a voluntary servant in Jade's house; perfectly free to pack up his belongings and slip away into the night, to vanish from Jade's life as easily as he'd entered it. He'd been angry, certainly, furious with Jade for announcing the ban on replicating living things. It was first time Jade could ever remember Saphir being angry with him about anything. He'd never remembered them quarreling before, but it seemed that Saphir had been saving up for a rainy day._

_He'd blown it off, not treated that anger, that feeling of betrayal, with the respect it deserved. Hadn't he always done that? Trivialized Saphir's feelings because his own were so trival? They didn't matter to him, so he tended to forget how much emotions mattered to others, especially to Saphir who was at times all emotion. _

_I should have realized he was hurt enough to bolt. I should have talked with him about it, let him talk and rant at me. Instead of I walked away, refused to discuss my reasons. Told him that was just the way it was going to be and if he didn't like it…if he didn't like it he was welcome to leave. That I was bettering my life and intended to surround myself with people dedicated to doing the same._

_He'd arrived late last night and checked himself into the miserable excuse for an inn, sending a boy to the cathedral with a note that simply stated "Tell Dist the Reaper Jade Curtiss wants to see him."_

_He hadn't known really want to expect, but the next morning the surly innkeep had handed him response telling him that "the Rose would take time from his busy schedule to indulge Mr. Curtiss. If he would please arrive around noon he could be granted ten minutes or so."_

_So here he sat in one of the most garishly decorated sitting rooms he'd ever seen in his life, not sure who exactly was going to walk through the door, but starting to get rather annoyed at whomever it was. He'd been here for nearly an hour now, and the bright floral patterns etched into the furniture were stinging his eyes, the heavy perfume of the room clogging up his sinuses. The Reaper or Rose or whatever he called himself was rumored to be a fop of the highest degree. This chamber certainly gave testimony to that._

_Jade finally got up and crossed the room, forcing open a window and gulping down fresh cool air. _

"_Jade…what a surprise. What in the world brings my dear old Master to Daath?"_

"_Curiosity." Jade turned around slowly. "I could ask the same of you. Hello, Saphir."_

_Five years hadn't aged him physically much, but the man standing in the doorway couldn't have looked less like his loyal little servant. The long white hair had been chopped short, the warm brown eyes hidden behind tinted lenses. His clothing was expensive, tailored to his slender frame, and he was far thinner than Jade remembered, almost to the point of unhealthiness. There was a kind of sallowness about him that was new as well, the look of a man who was starving for sunlight._

"_You really should have written ahead. I'm an extremely busy man, you know." Saphir, his head raised high, marched past Jade and pulled the window closed again, shutting in the heavy air and out the noise of the city._

"_So you said in your reply. I'm honored you'd take the time to see me." Jade bowed mockingly. _

_  
"So...what can I do for you?"_

"_I'm hurt, Saphir. After all these years not even a proper greeting?"_

"_That is no longer my name!" There was venom behind the words, almost enough to make Jade flinch. "Saphir is dead."_

"_Oh? I wish you'd at least sent me a copy of the obituary. I'd have sent flowers." Jade sat down again on the sofa. "Fine…Dist then. Is that better?"_

"_I'll ask you again. What are you doing here?"_

_Jade rubbed his eyes. "Would you believe I wanted to try and put things to rights? You left so suddenly…I've always regretted that. I've never stopped wondering what happened to you."_

"_Well, as you can see, I've done remarkably well for myself. They were starving here for a man of my abilities. I'm sure that I could pull some strings and find a place for you as well…" Saphir's voice trailed off. "They're interested in you, always asking me this and that. You'd be very well treated. We'd have all the support and funding we'd need to finally bring back the Professor." His voice rose higher and he reached down, his fingers digging painfully into Jade's arm. "They insist on calling me the Reaper instead of the Rose, but think of it; the Reaper and the Necromancer. Doesn't that sound lovely together? Just think…"_

_Jade pulled away, disgusted. "So that's what all this is about? A way to circumvent my direct orders? I told you…"_

"_You told Saphir! You told your pathetic, fawning lackey your wishes and just expected him to…obey!"_

"_Yes. Yes, as a matter of fact I did." Jade rose to his feet. "She's gone, Saphir!"_

"_Dist!"_

"_Saphir!" Jade reached over and grabbed the man's shoulders. "This has to stop! Come back to Grand Chokmah before it's too late. If you proceed with this nonsense I'll have no choice but to stop you, by force if necessary. This isn't you! You're not like this."_

_Saphir/Dist threw his head and let out a howl of grief, and the last of Jade's hope shattered at the madness in it. "You murdered her! My mother was dead! The Professor was all I had left and you murdered her! You stole her away from me so it's your responsibility to give her back! If you won't I'll do it myself!"_

_There was a pounding on the door. "Sir! Are you alright, sir?"_

"_I'll ask you one last time, Jade. Join me." Dist stared up at Jade, and Jade knew that if he could see those eyes there'd be no reason in them, nothing left he recognized. "You know how much I…cared for you. I would have done anything to make you happy, and you never appreciated it. Never appreciated me. I was your equal and you still treated me like garbage! I'm worth your respect now!"_

"_No…" Jade shook his head. "No, Saphir was worth my respect. But as you so eloquently put it, Saphir is dead. I don't know who you are, but know this: if I walk out of this room without you, our next meeting won't be as…cordial."_

_Dist pulled open the door of the sitting room, and two young Oracle knights rushed in._

"_Escort Mr. Curtiss out. Should he try to return have him arrested for trespassing. He's not welcome here."_

"_Don't trouble yourselves. I've seen what I came to see." Jade took one last took at Saphir…no, Dist. He'd have to remember that now. To call this insane creature by Saphir's name was an insult to his oldest friend's memory._

"_Farewell, Dist."_

_He ignored the confused knights and made his way back outside. Once clear of anyone's view Jade reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a small, well-worn plane. Giving it a final look, he tossed it over his shoulder, and didn't turn as he heard it shatter against the ground._

********************************

"Jade?"

Jade glanced up as Guy entered the small room in the Albiore's rear. "Are you busy?"

"Not at all. Might I ask who's flying this thing if you're back here with me, however?"

"Noah. No idea where he learned how, but he says one plane is pretty much like another one." Guy sat down across from Jade, and fidgeted a bit. "I thought…"

"That you could use this time to take part of my vast wisdom?"

"Something like that." Guy smiled a little. "I could use some advice, actually. It's about…um…relationships."

"Why not ask Anise, our self-proclaimed expert on the subject?" He laughed at the sudden pained look on Guy's face. "That was a joke. Ask away."

"How do you know when…I mean…if you're already friends with someone, how do you know that they're ready, or you're ready, for something bigger?"

This wasn't the kind of conversation Jade had ever expected to have with a grown man. Vilo…well, it was a given that someday they'd talk about this, but Guy…well, why not? Given his phobia the poor boy he never been in any kind of serious relationship before, Noelle's flirtations not without standing. Of course he'd have questions more appropriate for someone in their pre-teens.

There was a flash through his mind for just a moment of red hair, of a child in a man's body, with a child's achingly simple point of view. He pushed the thought aside.

"There's no litmus test for it, Guy." He finally replied, hoping that the answers were correct as he was merely pulling them from thin air and using what sounded logical. "Women, and I'm assuming are talking about a woman, can be quite forward in this area when they want something. If you're speaking of the woman I believe you are, I don't doubt that if she decides she wants something…bigger, as you put it…you'll know immediately."

"She's going to be really mad that we left her behind." Guy didn't even pretend not to know whom Jade was speaking of.

"She can be as upset as she wants. She's too valuable to both our countries to put at risk if we don't have to. Continued peace between Malkuth and Kimlasca depends on the rulers being able to meet without coming to blows; a future queen who is likes us and has no desire for war is a rarity."

"Did you know that Ingobert is considering stepping down within a year?"

Jade's face registered his surprise. "No one else knows." Guy continued. "His heart just isn't in it any longer, and it's what the people of Kimlasca want. He wasn't ever well-liked to begin with, and Natalia is one of them. They're getting impatient for her reign to begin."

"And a reign means…"

"Pressure to marry. Pressure to produce an heir. That's the last thing I want to be, a safe means to an end."

"So that's your big fear. That she doesn't care about you, but that she will marry you just because she needs to wed someone and she trusts you."

"You're good."

"Of course I am." Jade leaned back in his chair. "And with Asch gone, she may have convinced herself that she's not going to find another real love anyway so why not settle for the next best thing. Those are valid concerns, Guy."

"That's not really advice."

"No, it's not. I don't think you really need it. You've asked yourself all of the important questions. I doubt you'd be happy for long in a marriage of convenience, and in time she'd come to resent it as well. That's not to say that a real relationship is out of the question between the two of you, but if you pursue this make sure she's responding for the right reasons."

Guy decided to change the subject. "What do you think about what Kratos and Noah brought up last night, about Lorelei?"

"Impossible to say, per speculation at this point."

When Lorelei was released from Van's body, the general belief was that it would become the seventh layer of the firmament. That had been the intention in any case; certainly what Lorelei itself had expected and wanted.

That had obviously not happened and no one, including Jade, had any idea why. The replicas hadn't vanished, which had been one anticipated result of Lorelei's demise. However, the ability to use the 7th Fonon had, and that seemed contradictory. That and the fact that with Lorelei out of the picture its evil twin had tried to take control.

Kratos was of the opinion that Lorelei had become trapped somewhere else, unable to make the final leap into the firmament, but still very much alive and well. This wasn't unusual; lots of people thought that might be the case, although how to solve it was beyond them. Without Luke or Asch, Lorelei had no one left to communicate its location to.

What made Kratos' theory different was that he believed Lẽtum had something to do with Lorelei either being missing or dead. That Lorelei had been weakened in that final battle, perhaps almost mortally so, and had fallen victim to the entity.

The idea up until now had been double-sided. Either find a way to recreate Lorelei or destroy Lẽtum. But if they could free the original Lorelei and restore the balance…

Jade had the strangest feeling he'd been here before. Well, those who refused to learn from the past were doomed to repeat it, after all.

"Are you alright? You sort of drifted out again." Guy snapped his fingers.

"Well, you know how the mind tends to wander when we become aged."

"You must miss your family. Can I ask you something really personal?"

"Ask all you like. Whether or not I'll answer is another thing."

"How come you've never married Saphir? Doesn't he want to?" It seemed a random question, totally unrelated to anything in the present situation, but Jade had learned with Guy there were no random questions. He had his own kind of logic and if he was asking this now, then there was a reason for it. Which was why he didn't usually mind Guy's questions and answering them; it wasn't like Anise, who simply asked because she was a busybody.

Jade now burst out laughing. "A chance to plan his own wedding? Saphir would eat his own foot for that kind of opportunity. He'd spend every gald I have planning it, and whether or not I was actually present would be an afterthought. However, it's not possible. Bond Masters cannot be family members. The Council may not have been able to stop Peony from Bonding him to me, but to change the law in that regard would require their consent. And it's not a bad law, for all that it does place some restrictions on us. Bonding someone to their own family really wasn't considered that much of a punishment."

"Well, that would depend on the family."

"This is true." Jade had a brief image of being Bonded to Winston and shuddered. "He understands the situation, or says he does in any case. He's never pressured me about it. And really, it's unnecessary in our case. I already have a document declaring him my property."

"Jade?" Kratos poked his head through the door. "You might want to come take a look at this."

***************************

Jade stared at the blackness ahead, puzzled. "What in the world…"

"There's no records of anyone ever reporting a void in the core, but something evil's passed through this recently." Noah was certain. "There's a taint to it, like a slime trail."

"Is it safe for us to enter?" Anise sounded worried. "We have no idea how the Albiore is going to hold up. What if it's a trap? What if we go in and can't ever get back out again?"

"You're welcome to wait outside." Jade barely glanced at the girl.

"That's not funny, Jade."

"It wasn't meant to be. I'm going in; I have no choice in the matter. We can return to the surface and drop off anyone who isn't interested in coming with me."

"Well, I'm in, I guess." Anise sighed. "But I'm too young to die so you better make sure I don't."

Jade glanced at the others, each of whom met his gaze unblinking. "Well, I guess we're going forward."

Noah turned the nose of the plane toward the void. "Any famous last words from anyone?"

"A coward dies a thousand deaths. A hero but once." Jade quoted. "However, really, isn't once all it takes? Shall we?"

The Albiore moved into the void, the darkness closing around them.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N:**

_This is going to be one of those things I think people are either going to like or hate. It's just too much fun not to do, even if it may be a little clichéd. _

**Chapter 29**

_Every mid-year there was an enormous fair in Keterburg, all kinds of game and craft booths and dancing ponies and life-stock displays. People spending gald on things they didn't need, children running everywhere, animal droppings littering the ground. It was exactly the kind of thing that Jade would have on his own avoided. However, Saphir adored it and Jade could usually be coaxed into accompanying him on at least one of the three days it was taking place. That year Jade had been ten, and had another reason beside Saphir's whining to attend this particular fair._

"_Here." Jade shoved a hot meat pie into Saphir's gloved palms. The gloves, as well as the heavy overcoat, were hand-me-downs from Jade. The coat was still too big on him, but Saphir almost lived in the damn thing. He either didn't know how silly he looked, or simply didn't care._

"_Thank you. I promise not to drop this one."_

_Jade snorted in response. _

"_What do you want to do next?" Saphir went on eagerly around a mouthful of steaming chicken. "There's a booth where you win prizes by lighting a bunch of candles with Fonic Artes. I bet you'd be really good at that, Jade. You'd win all kinds of neat stuff."_

_The older boy shrugged, and then gave Saphir a sly look. "I heard…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I suppose it might just be a rumor…"_

"_What might be?" Saphir swallowed hard._

"_There's supposed to be a Fontech booth on the west side…"_

"_Jade! That's mean! Why didn't you say so before?"_

_Jade grinned. "You didn't ask, stupid. Want to go check it out?"_

"_You know I do."_

_The two boys headed for the other side of the fairgrounds, and Saphir was humming happily until a look from Jade silenced him. In too good of a mood to mind, Saphir stuck out his tongue and Jade laughed, giving him a very light tap on the back of the head. _

"_Behave, or I won't pay for your cotton candy."_

"_I can pay for it myself! Mother gave me some gald, so there."_

"_Can you pay for all the other things you want to do?"_

"_No…"_

"_Then be good."_

"_Thanks for coming with me, Jade." They ducked around a man leading a rappig on a leash. "Isn't this fun?"_

"_Do I look like I'm having fun?" Jade tried to appear bored and put-out. _

"_Yes. Yes you do."_

"_Look out! The bull's loose!"_

_That was the only warning Jade received before something solid came crashing into him, knocking him into the snow. Then it was on his back, crushing him downward and he couldn't breathe. He felt his ribs snapping like twigs, and could dimly hear Saphir screaming his name…_

_He woke up in bed, his body hurting so badly only the fact that he never cried prevented it. Someone was holding his hand. "Jade? Darling, can you hear me?"_

"_Professor?" The boy tried to get the word out. "What…"_

"_You've been injured. Someone's bull got loose and trampled you. But you're going to be alright. There was a 7__th__ Fonist close at hand and he saved your life. You're in your own bed."_

_A quick turn of his head and Jade saw the familiar surroundings of his bed chamber. If not for the horrible pain he would have thought it was all a bad dream._

"_Saphir…"_

_Why he had asked about Saphir? Why did Saphir matter? If he hadn't gotten out of the way of the bull then wasn't it just his own bad luck?_

"_He's right outside the door with Nephry. He was afraid you were going to be angry with him."_

"_Why would he think that?"_

"_Because he talked you into going to the fair. Because you were going to see the Fontech booth because he wanted to. You know how silly he gets sometimes and how much he worries." Professor Nebilim sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed Jade's hair out of his eyes. "You're very lucky to be alive, you know. The bull gored two other people and they weren't as fortunate."_

"_My parents are probably upset."_

"_Of course they are, Darling. I'm sure they were terrified by what could have happened."_

"_I mean, they're probably upset that I didn't die." His voice was emotionless. "They came so close…"_

"_What a thing to say! They don't want you to die, Jade."_

"_Then why aren't they here?" Jade asked. "You're here, and Saphir and Nephry are here. But you didn't say my parents were, Professor. If they cared, why aren't they? Why aren't they in here with me?"_

_The look she gave him was full of both love and exasperation, and he realized he liked the warm hand on his forehead, liked seeing her look at him like that. _

"_Do you want to see Saphir and Nephry?"_

_He would blame it on the injury, on the bad day, on anything he could think of later but for now…_

"_Professor…"_

"_Yes, Darling?"_

"_Would you…stay a while longer?"_

_The smile she graced him with was blinding. "Of course I'll stay. I'll stay as long as you like."_

_Jade smiled._

_**************************_

"Jade! Jade, hey. Wake up."

Jade slowly raised his head off the floor. What floor? And what was he doing on it? He'd been at the fair…there was a bull…he'd been trampled. Where was Professor Nebilim? She'd promised to stay…

"Can you sit up?" Guy had hold of Jade's arm. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Vaguely. We're were in the Void…"

"We still are. There was this…pressure. Like we were being crushed, and then we all blanked out. Still feels like I went one round too many with a bear."

Jade managed to pull himself into a sitting position, his skull ringing. "The others?"

"Noah's there." Guy pointed at the pilot seat, where Noah raised a hand in greeting. "Tear and Kratos are in with Anise. When she fell she cracked her head pretty hard on the console. Well, it would have to be pretty hard to crack Anise's skull." Guy grinned. "She'll be okay; she just needs to take it easy for a while. It was you I was worried about. After last time…"

"You were worried that Lẽtum might have had his way with me again?"

"Something like that."

Jade managed to shakily get to his feet. "Besides being knocked on our collective rumps, has anything else changed?"

"Not as far as we can tell."

The Albiore lurched and Jade grabbed the arm of a nearby seat to keep from ending up back on the floor. "Noah!"

"Not my fault! System readings are fine!" Noah began making adjustments to the controls as the plane gave another lunge forward.

"Jade, what's happening?" Tear appeared in the doorway, and grabbed the wall as the plane shook itself like a wet dog.

"Stay there! Stay with Anise!" Jade ordered. He wasn't sure the far room was any safer, but the less people he had to worry about protecting right now the better.

_//I'll kill them all, Necromancer.//_

Jade froze.

_//You come a hunting, you'd better be sure you're able to make the kill.//_

The ship shook again, harder, and Guy lost his balance and hit his knees with a thud.

_//I've missed you. You're close enough now that I can talk to you again even with that silly block in place. You must have missed me too, to come all this way. How's your pet doing after his swim?//_

Jade fought to control the rush of rage. "If you're not going to tell me anything interesting…"

As if they'd planned it, Noah and Guy both cried out in unison, eyes rolling back into their heads as they hit the floor.

"Leave them be! If it's me you want then damn it, come after me! They've done nothing!"

_//If you insist.//_

There was an odd feeling, as if his entire body had been scraped on carpeting, and he could not move. His breath escaped in tiny spurts and it felt as if something was digging fingernails into his skull and rifling around through his brain. It was…rape was the closet thing he could come up with. Helpless to defend himself, helpless to even scream, unable to keep this…thing from doing as it pleased.

_//Oh, don't be so dramatic.//_

The space in front of Jade seemed to shimmer for a moment, that same sickly greenish-yellow color he'd come to associate with Lẽtum before it solidified, and the shape it took chilled Jade to the bone.

_//Do you like it? No? But I worked so hard, ungrateful child. Ah, but we'll have plenty of time to address your lack of manners…come along now."_

Jade found he could move again, but it did him no good. Before he could take two steps forward to strike out at the monster before him, there was a feeling of being jerked hard, and twisted inside out. The creature grinned mockingly at him and gave a small bow, and then vanished from his sight.

Along with everything else.

Alone in the cockpit except for the two unconscious men, the creature knelt down and placed a hand on Noah's head, making a face of disgust.

"May I?"

_//No. Not yet. Use the spell I taught you to disable his senses. Otherwise he'll know something's wrong.//_

The creature sulked but did as he was told; using all of his self control to keep from giving the man's neck one hard, quick twist.

"May I kill the other one, then?"

_//Not yet! Soon. I'll let you have them soon enough. I'm not done playing yet. Control yourself.//_

The creature sighed to himself and watched with interest as the blonde man began to stir, and opened his eyes.

"Not again…" He was pulling himself up on to the chair and looking at the creature without fear.

"You alright there, Jade?"

"Never been better. We had a nice little talk, he became upset and took it out on the pair of you, and then went on his merry way. But I do think this was a mistake. He's too powerful for us right now; he's shown that. I suggest we head back home, regroup, and come back with reinforcements."

_//Excellent. Very well done indeed. Remember the most important part.//_

_When I come back, I have to have the boy with me._

_//And his guardian. I want Neis as well.//_

_As you wish._

********************************

He'd miscalculated.

Given the scope of what he'd accomplished it was a minor detail, but it was still enough to annoy the young man greatly. He'd been lucky enough to end up on a grassy plain, not wedged inside of some boulder or tree. However, it was a few miles from where he'd intended to be, and he disliked both the delay and the fact that he'd have to travel there by foot.

The monsters lurking in the tall grass didn't really worry him. Although his Fonic abilities were something of a joke, the specially designed gloves he wore could amplify them enough to defend against low-level beasts. Very low level. If something bigger came along he might well end up dinner, but it wasn't likely for this part of the world.

He headed north, his legs starting to protest after he'd even completed the first half-mile. That he couldn't really blame on anyone but himself; he'd never been overly fond of physical activity, had never seen much use for it or need, but the result was that when he did ask his body to do things it wasn't used to, his body responded by letting him know exactly what it thought of the abuse, and of him.

He finally stopped next to a small stream and knelt down, weighing his thirst against what kinds of things might possibly be living in here. Thirst finally won and he quickly scooped some of the cool water into his mouth, trying not to think about fish droppings, mud, and dead insects. He supposed most people had some experience with this sort of thing, camping trips and such, but even as a little boy the thought of deliberately sleeping outside and scavenging your food and drink horrified him. He preferred his vacations in a luxury hotel where the water was served already purified and "roughing it" meant that room service wasn't a twenty-four-hour a day option.

Forget the self-blame. This was at least partially his parents' fault. He'd been born into wealth and raised accordingly; they'd happily accepted him as he was and never once tried to toughen him up. As soon as he got back home he fully intended to give them a piece of his mind. The least they could have done was make him join some kind of scouting troop.

By the time he reached Theor Forest the sun was starting to set and his self-pity had almost reached the critical stage. His boots had rubbed his feet to blisters, there was a stitch in his side, and he was so hungry that even the grass was starting to look delicious. He considered some juicy-looking berries on a scrub, but passed. They were probably wormy.

The guards at the gate couldn't have possibly looked any more bored as they eyed him up and down. Although he looked a bit rumpled from his unintended walk, he also knew what they were seeing didn't alarm them. A thin man in his mid-twenties, well-dressed in expensive clothing, his dark brown hair tied neatly back in a horse-tail. No visible weapons. Was that a mistake, that part? Would they be more suspicious of someone who didn't carry a weapon? Why hadn't he thought of that?

"Name and business."

His exhaustion very nearly caused him to blurt out his real name without even thinking. He caught himself just in time and gave his tired brain a hard, unseen slap. "Riles Siving. Pleasure trip."

The guard gave him one more disinterested glance and waved him on through, and Riles nodded in thanks, relieved.

An hour later found him soaking in a hot bath in Grand Chokmah's best hotel, a tray of food and a bottle of wine easily within his reach. Why not? It was too late tonight to do get started on business. What he really wanted was a good look around the city; his curiosity had already been sparked by just what he'd seen on his way here. It was like…well, the picture books he'd been given as a small child, where the goal was to spot what was wrong in the photograph. Everything was just a little bit off, not quite right, but still easily recognizable, and it was utter and completely fascinating. He consoled himself a little more wine and the thought that he wouldn't be able to see very much in the dark anyway.

He was also feeling ashamed of himself for his mental whining earlier in the day.

_He crossed Rugnica on a half-healed broken ankle and a crutch made from sticks, and half-starved. It took him almost a week. I walked four miles at the most on two perfectly sound legs, and after a good lunch. What an ass I am…._

The water now cold and the worst of his aches eased, Riles lurched to his feet and wrapped a butter-soft white towel around his waist, snatching up the bottle of wine on his way out of the bathroom. He dragged the wheeled tray behind him, and was pushing it out into the hall, when the same young man who'd delivered it to begin with hurried up to him.

"Everything satisfactory, Mr. Siving?" The boy, who looked about nineteen, noticed the towel and blushed to his blond roots.

"Very good, thank you." Riles automatically started to reach into his pocket for tip before realizing he had no pockets. Although from the shy look the boy was giving him now, the sight of him reaching into the towel probably wouldn't have gone amiss.

This was a new thing, the flirtation. He'd spent the first few decades of his life practically invisible and not really caring one way or another. There'd always been something more important to focus on that his hormones. At least that was the story he told himself. On the few attempts he'd made, his efforts were clumsy and uncertain, and no one had ever given him a second glance.

_It's because you're confident now. You don't act like a scared little rabbit any longer; you've grown into your skin and people can see it. You know what you can do, what you're worth. The fact that you're standing here right now is proof of that._

He gave the boy a dazzling smile, at least one he'd hoped was dazzling. What was the appropriate thing to say here? This part still threw him. "I don't think I caught the pleasure of your name."

"Haython."

"Working late tonight, I imagine?"

"No, sir. My shift is over in an hour."

"Excellent. I was just thinking I could do with some dessert, but the portions in these places is often too much for me to indulge myself with alone. Perhaps you wouldn't mind joining me in an hour or so? If you don't I'll force myself to finish it and I gain weight so easily…"

That last part was a bold-faced lie, but it hardly mattered when Haython picked up on the invitation and broke into a huge grin. "We have an excellent butterscotch sundae, sir. However, it is a bit large…"

"I look forward to having someone to share it with. My waistline and I are both eternally grateful. I'll see you in an hour then."

***********************************

The boy was still asleep when Riles awoke the next morning, his messy fair hair just visible under the edge of the blanket.

If he didn't have work to do, he'd be tempted to shake Haython awake for some quick morning fun. The young man had made up for his lack of much experience with energy and enthusiasm. It had been a thoroughly enjoyable evening on both their parts (at least as far as Riles knew). He'd never look at butterscotch quite the same way again.

But playtime was over. He hadn't come here to sample the local cuisine, as delightful as it had been. Perhaps if he had time later…

_No. Stupid man. Aren't you always looking down your nose at those who use other things besides their brains to think? There are plenty more like him back home._

Riles dressed himself quickly, and gave himself another chastising for not bringing at least a change of clothing with him. He'd considered all of the other details so carefully, but this…this simple little thing…well, wasn't that always the case? You went to the store for curry powder and left with a thousand gald worth of everything _but_ curry powder.

Still leaving Haython peacefully dreaming, Riles eased the door of the hotel room shut and made his way downstairs. A few minutes later, his tab settled at the front desk (and including a very handsome tip for 'that wonderfully courteous young blond fellow' he headed back out into the city.

In the daylight, he was able to see clearly just how much of the flood damage remained, and he sucked in his breath in shock. He'd heard about it, but seeing it first hand like this…it was worse than he'd expected. For one thing, it smelled. It absolutely reeked. Wet wood and mildew and mold, and he wondered if it was even safe to breathe.

No one looked twice at him as he made his way down the street toward the palace. At least, he assumed the palace was still there. Nothing he'd heard indicated that it wouldn't be, just that it had some damage as well. All around him were people cleaning and rebuilding, and now he could smell freshly cut wood over the flood stench. The people he saw working looked…well, if happy wasn't the right word, then definitely determined. They were going to make this right again.

He was almost to the door of the palace, when it popped open and two boys strolled out, hands in their pockets.

"Can you believe I've still got another hundred hours of this?" The younger boy was moaning. "I hurt so bad from yesterday. I wanted to stay home but Saphir wouldn't let me."

"At least you DID something to earn it." The older boy shot back. "I'M doing it because Grandmother convinced my father that it would 'build character'. I don't need to build character. I happen to like my character just fine. Hey, Vilo, that guy is staring at you."

Vilo stopped and gave Riles a curious look that turned puzzled after a second.

"Do I know you?"

_Stay calm, stay calm. Smile. He's a sharp boy. Deflect him, just like you planned_.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe so. I'm looking for Saphir Neis. I was told he was staying here?"

"Why do you want to see Saphir?" The boy's tone was suspicious. "Look, we told you losers that he's not responsible for the flood!"

"Ease off, lad. I'm not going to hurt him." Riles held up both of his hands. "I just want to talk with him. I'd like to see Jade Curtiss as well but I understand that he's away. I have some information on this entity they've been dealing with. I know Kratos. He's filled me in on what Colonel Curtiss has been dealing with and I think I might be able to help."

At the mention of Kratos Vilo relaxed considerably. "Charlie, I'll catch up with you later, okay? This is important."

Charlie didn't look convinced and didn't look happy at all to be leaving his cousin alone with this weird fellow, but finally nodded and took off toward his assigned area.

"Just a head's up." Vilo was saying now as they entered the palace and made their way upstairs. "Saphir's been in a really bad mood since my Dad left. Oh yeah, I didn't tell you who I am. I'm Vilo Curtiss, Jade's kid."

"Riles Siving. Pleasure to meet you, Vilo Curtiss." They shook hands.

"So anyway, just be a little patient with Saphir. He's the greatest guy in the world, but when my Dad's not around he gets really mopey and depressed. If he says anything nasty to you just ignore it. He doesn't really mean it."

"I look forward to meeting him."


	30. Chapter 30

_A/N:_

_Things are really going to come to a head here soon. Don't be too worried about Jade; I promise he'll be just fine in the end. I can't make that promise about everyone else...*evil laugh_*

**Chapter 30**

_Apologies didn't count unless you meant it; he'd learned that from Vilo at a very early age. If you did something wrong and you knew you were wrong, and felt bad about it, then you had a responsibility to try and make things better. Especially if the person you'd hurt was someone you loved._

_Virgil stood there, shuffling his feet on the carpet, and staring at the slight man bent over the workbench. "Dad?"_

_Saphir didn't answer; didn't even look up. _

"_Dad, I'm…what I said earlier. I didn't mean it."_

"_Oh? It certainly sounded like you meant it."_

"_I was just really mad and…I was stupid."_

"_I knew it would come to this." His father finally looked up from his work and gave his Virgil such a heartbroken look that the boy almost burst into tears. "I knew…someday…to be honest it took longer than I expected for you to reach this point. I'm not surprised you hate me."_

"_I don't hate you." The boy moved forward, putting a hand on his father's shoulder. "I don't ever hate you." The tears were really coming now. "They're the stupid ones, the ones who can't forget. You've done all these good things since then…"_

"_Not a single good thing I ever do will make up for a single life that was lost. I know that. All I can do is try to do better going forward." He reached up and put a hand on the boy's cheek. "And selfishly, hope that when they look at my greatest accomplishment they'll be awestruck. You may wish you had any other father in the world, but I've never wished I had any other son." His voice cracked slightly and the boy collapsed into his arms._

"_It's not fair that you have to pay for my crimes, Virgil, but there's a lot of things that aren't fair in this life. Your name means 'strength' because I knew you were going to need it. You are strong; you're a lot stronger than I was at your age, and I know you're strong enough to show them all. To show them that you're not me, and win their respect."_

_Virgil wiped at his eyes and nodded. "Do you forgive me?"_

"_Of course I forgive you. How could I ever not forgive you?"_

"_Do you ever wish I was more like Vilo?" _

"_Why would I think that?" Saphir made himself laugh. _

_Virgil shrugged one thin shoulder. "Cause he doesn't worry about things like I do. I worry about everything, and he doesn't. He just…does what he wants to."_

"_And ends up in trouble up to his ears for not thinking first." Saphir laughed again, a real one this time. "Exactly the same as when he was a little boy. You don't need to be like Vilo. One of him is all the world could possibly handle. Just be you, dearheart. That will always be enough for me."_

"_Are you going to tell Papa?"_

"_No. He'd only become upset and give you a lecture and I think you've already given yourself a suitable one. Papa loves us, Virgil, but he doesn't always understand people like you and I. This is better kept our secret."_

"_Thanks."_

_Saphir squeezed his shoulder and returned to his project, and Virgil wandered around the lab, his mind eased to know that his father had accepted his apology. _

_I'm so stupid sometimes. Those people, they don't matter. What they think of him, what they think of me, they're not important. _

_In the corner of the basement, under a thick tarp, was small tank that hadn't seen use in eight years now. Still, it always seemed to draw his attention like nothing else in the lab ever did, and as usual he found himself lifting the edge of the cover and examining it in full detail._

_I lived in there. For nine months I lived inside of there, growing, while they all watched me and waited. I wonder what I thought about then, what I thought they were when I saw them. I wish I could remember…Papa said I could smile at them months before I was born, that it was amazing to watch. I wish they'd have another kid, just so I could watch._

_Smiling now, he ran his fingers over the fonic letters engraved on a small plate on the tank's front._

_Virgil Saphir Neis. _

***********************************

It was cold. A bitter, freezing cold that pressed around him, so cold that it caused him to shame himself by crying out and huddling onto the floor with his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. Either the room was without light or he'd been blinded. There were walls around him, leaving just enough room for him to sit up.

_//I can make it warm.//_

"Go to hell!"

_//What a rude house-guest. It's not real, you know. The walls are all in your mind. Such a powerful mind, though. I doubt you're strong enough to break free.//_

"They'll know…"

_//They haven't figured it out so far. Excellent, isn't he? A perfect replica, born entirely of the 8th Fonon. I seem to have a talent for this. As they say, like father, like son. Speaking of sons…//_

The black rage filled Jade again as an image was forced into his brain; his son bloody, broken, his body ravaged by little winged demons who squealed in delight as they ripped another piece of flesh from the small body.

_//He's going to fetch him, bring him to me. The stupid fool will happily go anywhere 'Daddy' tells him to. Don't worry. I'll make sure you have a good view.//_

"If you touch him…"  
_  
__//You'll what? You're becoming boring. Sleep now. We'll talk later.//_

The connection was broken, but the prison remained. Jade forced himself to stand, to press against the walls, but nothing gave.

Comfort.

The feeling washed over him like a warm shower. He could sense a kind of frustration that whomever it was couldn't speak to him, but someone else was here. He turned his head blindly in the direction the feeling had come from and again the feeling of peace surrounded him.

He wasn't alone. It wasn't much, but wherever he was, he wasn't alone.

_If there are any Gods out there listening, please, please don't let that…thing…hurt my son. If my life is forfeit I'll accept that, but not his…_

_Please save him._

_*****************************_

One of the benefits of having a peaceful kingdom (or so Peony had always felt) was that it didn't take up a lot of one's time to handle. There was a pretty good court system in place for the lesser crimes, and the Council had more authority over the bigger stuff than he did anyway. Mostly he reviewed laws different districts wanted to set up and handled personal disputes that he didn't think were worth the court's time.

Quite a few of them weren't worth his time either. Today, for example. A bartender, in order to attract more business to his establishment, had painted a very buxom, attractive redhead on the sign out front. Unfortunately, the painting happened to bear a strong resemblance to the sixteen-year-old daughter of the tailor across the street. The lass in question was delighted with the extra attention; her Papa not so much. It had come to a head when Papa took it upon himself to paint over the sign. The bartender had caught him in the act and punched him, and ended up getting thrown through his own bar window. Both men had been arrested.

His Majesty had given them both a stern lecture about the way adults were supposed to behave, ordered the bartender to either take down or modify the sign (his protests that the girl wasn't supposed to represent the underage lady in question falling on deaf ears considering he'd included by the small birthmark on her arm and the emerald earrings she always wore) and ordering that the tailor pay for the bartender's medical expenses and bar window.

"You know, it's starting to dawn on me how some of those ridiculous laws went into effect." Peony leaned back now on a small leather sofa with a sigh. "What if I pass a law that says 'it is illegal to use tailor's daughters to advertise drinking establisments'? Let's see my great-great-great grandson try and figure that one out."

"You know there are certain steps you'd need to take to ensure that happens." Saphir was sprawled on his own sofa, one leg dangling over the edge. On his lap, Max was happily leaning into a small, soft-bristled brush.

"Eh, maybe I'll just cheat and make Vilo my heir. I'm kidding!" He laughed at the horrified look on Saphir's face. "He's a great kid but he'd be a lousy Emperor. I'll figure something out."

Saphir, as much as he loved the child, had to concede Peony's point. Vilo wasn't exactly the type to use diplomacy when there was a chance to blow something up instead.

"More to the left, please." Max was almost purring in pleasure. "Yeah, that's it. Right there."

They were a perfect match, those two. Peony chuckled to himself watching Saphir move to groom another part of his little friend. He'd finally coaxed Saphir out of the palace yesterday with the promise of a shopping trip, something to get his mind off of missing Jade. Spending large amounts of money, especially someone else's money, usually put him into a good mood.

This had led to one of the most interesting shopping sprees of Peony's life, as Saphir managed to spend enough gald to fuel a small army entirely on Max. The Emperor had never even suspected there that one could purchase outfits and accessories for cheagles, but hadn't minded once Saphir had pointed out the same designer had a rather attractive line for rappigs as well. Max had sulked a little about being put in the same category as Peony's pets but wasn't about to object to being spoiled rotten. Peony had even treated the three of them to a manicure. While some of the shopkeepers raised an eyebrow at Saphir's 'pet' the presence of His Majesty (and his money) had quelled any objection.

Peony hadn't even objected when Saphir had bought some jeweler's tools for himself, as well as various other odds and ends, stating only that he wanted to try a different sort of experiment. He had wondered a bit when Saphir had requested a small, flawlessly cut sapphire stone, but had been too curious to protest. That night, after a few hours her friend's tinkering, Max had found herself presented with yet another gift; a beautiful sapphire pendant on a silver chain; one that Saphir had somehow managed to imbibe with the qualities of the Sorcerer's Ring. The cheagle had been thrilled to trade the bulky, uncomfortable (and downright tacky) ring for something far more elegant.

Dist never would have admitted he was wrong about anyone or anything; in his own mind he was above reproach and beyond mistakes. Saphir, who was annoyed to find bits and pieces of Dist still happily setting up residence inside of him, was trying to make the effort to rise above that. Trying to put logic over raw emotion and that logic was telling him, bluntly, that he'd been misjudging Peony for a very long time now.

Yes, the man still tried his patience but he also had a natural talent of simply making people feel better around him, of diffusing tense situations and gently reminding people that there were plenty of important things to worry about without flying off the handle over every little incident. He was like a human version of valerian tea, and while Saphir would have died a thousand times before actually telling him that, he wasn't sure he could have gotten through the worry about his missing lover without the Emperor's calming reassurance that Jade could take care of himself. Plus, Max liked Peony and the cheagle was an excellent judge of character.

There was a knock on the sitting room door. "It is illegal to disturb an Emperor after hearing one of the stupidest cases of his life!" Peony called out. He glanced over at Saphir, who looked annoyed as well. "And convicted criminals who are nice enough to let him bitch."

"And cheagles when they're being brushed!" Max added for good measure.

"Very funny guys. It's me. Let me in."

"Why aren't you at your assignment?" Saphir called back. "Listen young man, just because Jade isn't here doesn't mean I won't…"

Peony had gotten up and pulled the door open, and was almost knocked aside by an impatient Vilo who entered the room dragging a young man by the hand. The stranger was looking amused by the entire thing.

"This is Riles Siving… he says he can help…"

********************************

"So you know Kratos."

"I've known him a long time. He's an old family friend."

Saphir nodded, trying not to stare at the young man before him.

I know I've seen him before, but where? Why can't I put my finger on it?

"Anyway." The young man was sitting back in a soft chair, a glass of water in his hand. "Kratos asked me to do some research on my own and I've found out a few things. I'm not sure what use they'll be but…"

He took a sip of the water.

"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer something else? We have some excellent wine." Peony offered his guest, after giving Saphir a wink.

"No…I had a bit too much of that last night, but my thanks for your offer." Riles smiled. "This is fine."

"The most important thing is, based on what I know, Lẽtum can't be destroyed. Not by humans, anyway. It can be immobilized and kept in check, but you can't simply shoot it or use an Arte on it and expect it to die."

Saphir felt an ice-cycle of fear crawl up the back of his neck. "So Jade's on a suicide mission."

"I'm willing to bet he suspected as much. That's why he didn't take you along. That's not really what concerns me. It's what may happen if Jade gets too close to Lẽtum physically. There's an old story…" Riles paused. "Apparently, Lẽtum can create replicas, as long as the original has come in close proximity and is an 8th Fonist. However, it takes a terrible toll on the original. They become…devoured may not be the right word. Absorbed by Lẽtum, and the beast gains the powers and abilities of those he absorbs. It grows stronger each time."

"Replicas of Jade…" Peony finally overcame his horror enough to speak. "With his abilities…"

"Not just his, Your Majesty. The abilities of all of the other 8th Fonists Lẽtum has taken over the years. I'm willing to bet, however, few were as powerful as Jade."

Jade, absorbed by the monster…worse than dead… Saphir tried to steady his nerves.

"And how do we know you're not one of Lẽtum's lackeys yourself?" Peony asked. There was no malice in his voice, just honest curiosity.

"He's not a bad person." Max assured them. "He's actually really good. But…"

"But what, darling?"

Max shook her head. "Nothing."

"Keep her close." Riles stood up and nodded at the cheagle. "She'll be able to spot someone impure immediately."

"You know something of cheagles too?"

Riles shrugged. "A bit." But there was a kind of mischief in his eyes. "Just be careful, please."

*********************************

Vilo had accepted the fact that he wasn't ever going to be a genius.

That didn't mean that he wasn't going to do his best to develop what brains he did have as far as they would go. Willy had been an enormous help on that, but the hard part was usually left up to him. A year ago he would have laughed at the idea of being 'book educated' but it was important now. He'd made his father a promise, after all.

Now he sat at the desk in his borrowed room, tongue between his teeth, make small notes on a piece of paper in front of him.

Saphir hadn't left all of his education up to Willy. He was always coming up with little brain-teasers and games for Vilo to try, and was constantly hounding him that if something looked odd it was almost always worth a closer look.

There was definitely something odd about this Riles guy. Max might trust him, but Vilo hadn't survived on the streets as long as he had without knowing when someone wasn't telling the whole truth.

He glanced down at the paper again. Odd names and words were often codes for other words, anagrams Saphir called them. This name was definitely odd enough…

R I L E S S I V I N G

EVILS RISING. Well, wasn't that a cheery thought?

I SING SILVER. Good for him, but unless Riles was an out-of-work minstrel it made no sense.

VILE SIGN SIR. Thinking of Peony's court case earlier today, Vilo burst out laughing at that one.

SIRENS VIGIL. That one brought to mind lonely sirens out on the sea, singing to lure sailors into their trap. It was a beautiful mental image but…

Vilo paused and stared at the last anagram again, feeling a chill go through his entire body. Carefully he wrote out "Riles Siving" again and began crossing out letters.

The answer stared back at him, and he felt himself shaking in both fear and excitement.

Riles Siving.

Virgil S. Neis.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N:**

_Thank you all so much for the positive feedback about this plot turn. I debated long and hard about it, should I or shouldn't I? I'm worse than Virgil sometimes…I finally decided to do it because of Tales of Phantasia and that time-travel is possible and canon in at least part of the Tales universe. And as to what happens at the end of this chapter…I'm taking Tommy Turtle's advice. (Ducks and covers)._

**Chapter 31**

_He looks so young._

Virgil's thoughts whirled as he walked down the palace hallway toward the room he'd been offered for the night.

_Odd. He never looked old to me, but the him I know looks so old now compared to…what is he now? Thirty-five? Only ten years older than I am at this point. He's so worried about Papa it's breaking my heart; I want to go hug him and tell him that it's all going to be okay, but I can't. This is so much harder than I expected it to be._

_Should I tell him? He wouldn't believe me at first but it wouldn't take much to make him believe. Wash this stupid dye out of my hair, spill my guts. No, I can't. He's got too much to worry about right now between Papa and Vilo; he'd immediately start worrying about me too and that's not fair to him. I wish I could tell him, though. I hate that I have to do this alone; it would be so nice to have someone who knew the truth…_

_Maybe I should go back to the hotel and track down Haython, burn off some tension. No, it's too far to walk and too late at night. The last thing I need is to fall victim to some mugger._

Still brooding, he pushed open the heavy door and entered the bedchamber, and then stopped cold.

Vilo was lounging on the bed, his hands behind his head, and…oh no…he had The Look. The look that he reserved entirely for a certain someone who, genius or not, had never been able to get anything over on him and never would.

"I have about a million questions, _Riles_." Vilo raised an eyebrow at Virgil. "Why are you here? How are you here? And most important…" He moved in one fluid motion and was on his feet. "What in the HELL did you do to your hair?"

The stress of the situation came crashing down on Virgil all at once, combined with…the question was just so…Vilo. So achingly familiar and so real, and….he began to giggle. He knew it was bordering on hysteria but didn't care. In a minute he was doubled over with tears running down his face.

"It's not funny!" Vilo's hands were on his hips. "Virgil, you stop that right now or…I swear I'm telling!"

"Don't!" Virgil held up one hand. "Vilo, please…you can't….I'll explain…just…give me a minute."

He was finally able to get himself under control and sat down on the bed, patting the area next to him. Vilo, grumbling to himself, took a seat at his brother's side. "Just tell me I'm not losing my mind. That you really are who I think you are."

"Yes, and I'll start with your big question." Virgil winked. "I knew you had that dream, and thought that you might recognize me if I didn't try and disguise myself a little bit. Except for my hair and my eyes, I don't look enough like Dad for anyone who wasn't looking for it to see it. Brown eyes are common enough that no one's going to question it."

"Did you send me that dream?"

"No." Virgil shook his head. "That's something I've never been able to figure out, how you knew about me; just that you did. You've been telling me the story my entire life. You seem to feel personally responsible for the fact that I exist…"

Vilo shrugged, pleased. "If you can't count on your big brother, who can you count on? How did you get here?"

"When two men love each other very much …"

Vilo smacked him on the arm. "That is _not_ what I mean and you know it!"

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry…Papa was a huge influence on me, you know. Sometimes I just can't help it."

"So, just for my own clarification here. When you say Dad you mean Saphir and Papa you mean my father?"

"Exactly. When I woke up in the middle of the night and yelled for someone, it helped if they knew which one I was calling."

"Go on."

It was a marvel how calm and accepting Vilo was being about all of this, Virgil thought with some pride. But he's young and he's had enough changes in his life that he's just learned to go with the flow. Still, a little bit of awe might be nice. You'd think his little brother popped in from the future every day….

"Let me start at the beginning." Virgil sighed. "And by the way, before I do, let me tell you that it is so good to see you right now, to be able to tell you this. You don't know how good.

"My name is Virgil Saphir Neis. I thank every star that they didn't do what Papa wanted and give me the middle name of Sapphire. I don't care if he likes it; Dad was apparently horrified at the idea and threatened to raise me in a cave before he'd let me be saddled with it.

"I don't know who my biological mother is; the egg was anonymously donated. I was gestated in the artificial womb created by Dad. Until then it had only been used on animals and to transfer children who were having trouble in their mother's wombs. I was the first baby to completely come to term in the tank. My parents were concerned that a human surrogate might change her mind and try to keep me.

"They still had some issues. Before I was even born the Council stuck their beaks in and started questioning whether or not a 'criminal' should be allowed to keep custody of their child. Dad was hysterical and Papa was furious; he invited himself into a Council meeting and told them they'd take me away over his dead body. You know how…calm he gets when he's really mad? Yeah, it was apparently like that. After he got through with them they decided they had more important things to worry about.

"I inherited my father's mental abilities and started helping him with his experiments from almost the time I could walk. My memories are a little vague when it comes to my early years. However, I do know that the biggest trauma of my life came when I was about four and my big brother, my favorite person in the world, was accepted at the school in Sheridan and left home."

Vilo made a soft sound, and Virgil smiled. "I cried for weeks; I was so sure I was never going to see you again. You came back for visits after that but you never again came home to live. Sheridan became your world from that point on, even after you graduated. So in a way I grew up an only child.

"My family doted on me; everyone from Papa to Max. I should have been happy, right? I was the little prince, given everything I wanted. But…

"I was about five when I started really thinking about how different my family was. Not about not having a mother and two fathers instead. I don't remember that ever bothering me. But I started noticing that Dad and I never went anywhere without Papa, and even when we did hardly anyone ever spoke to Dad. They always gave him dirty looks and moved away, and it upset me. I didn't understand.

"Dad tried to explain it to me but it didn't make things better. I started school that year and noticed some of the other children avoiding me. Their parents didn't want them playing with the Reaper's child. That was the first thing. The second thing was that even though Papa had found a really good private school for me to attend I was still the smartest one in the class. I just didn't think like the other children did. I didn't understand them and they didn't understand me. I was…emotional. I cried very easily and that just made things worse. I also had almost no self confidence; I still can't do anything without worrying it over in my mind and wondering if I'm making the right choice. Papa's nickname for me is 'Wart', short for 'worrywart'."

"That's kind of mean."

"I don't mind. I've decided it's kind of cute. I just don't tell him that."

Virgil rubbed his eyes and gave Vilo a sidewise glance. "He's a horrible tease, but I think you've already noticed that."

"Once or twice."

"I may not have had a lot of friends but what I did have was my family and I was very close to them. I used to love to hear them tell stories about things that had happened before I was born. About you destroying the house, and how Dad met Max…it was better to me than any storybook because it was real.

"I wasn't always the best son, Vilo. I had a tendency to blame my problems on other people, for one thing. I once yelled at Dad that I wished I had any other father in the world except for him. I still regret that, knowing how badly it must have hurt him.

"I grew up though, and they kept on loving me even when I was especially difficult. When I was sixteen I went off to Sheridan myself and after a rough start I graduated at the top of my class."

"With a lot of help from your big brother, of course."

"Of course." Virgil laughed and squeezed Vilo's hand. "You were my rock."

"Do you still drool in your sleep?"

Virgil coughed into his hand and chose not to answer that. "May I continue or do you want to know if I wet the bed too?"

"Do you?" Vilo's grin was wicked.

"_Going on,_ I can use all of the Fonons, but only very slightly. I can light a candle if I have to and heal a pimple, and make a glass of water cooler. Parlor tricks. So I focused on Fontech, like you and Dad. However, I wasn't satisfied with just the obvious. Dad's an inventor and you're a teacher; I wanted to go beyond that. I wanted to restore lost technology and it became my passion. I wanted to do the impossible. I moved back to Grand Chokmah after I graduated and managed to make both of my parents irritated that I got my own house instead of going back to live with them.

"Now to go back a little ways here. In my bedtime stories there was a man named Riles Siving, a man who had helped my family out before my birth, and to whom they were very grateful. Also, a man they knew very little about. Funny, now that I think about it I always got the feeling you knew more than you were telling; I suppose now I know why."

"Get on with it, brat."

"Okay, okay. So I did some research on my own and found nothing; no record of this guy anywhere at all. I kind of put it in the back of my mind and kept on with my work.

"I became deeply interested in the theories of space and time, and it was frustrating because I knew that it had once been possible. If it could happen once it could happen again. Please understand that I didn't want to go around mucking things up; I just wanted to see if I could do it.

"This lead once to a very unpleasant conversation with Papa, and a long, stern lecture about the kind of chaos I could cause if I wasn't careful. He's a little squeamish about things like this. He wanted me to settle down and move back home and just…make things. I wasn't Dad, though, and I didn't want that kind of life. Truth be told, I still don't. It's fine for him, but that's him. I'm me.

"So I kept tinkering on my own, and I was stuck for a while. Really stuck and wondering if I'd just been wasting my time. Then Kratos came to see me. I'd always liked him, even if he was a little strange. I knew his entire story; maybe that's the reason that I didn't like to say something was impossible. Here was this multi-thousand year old immortal guy who came over to my parents' house for dinner, after all.

"Kratos told me I was on the right track and that I had to complete my research, that it was important. Then he showed me the proof; Riles Siving is an anagram, you know. For…"

"Virgil S. Neis. That's how I figured it out." Vilo was proud of himself.

"Next time, I'm calling myself John Turner. No, there won't be a next time. This entire thing gives me a headache if I think about it too much. Bottom line is I had to come back here, and help, because I'd done it before. Since it was something I was supposed to do that took away some of the moral concerns. The fact that I'm still here indicates that I do it right. So…here I am." He held up his hands, and Vilo noticed how much like Saphir's they were. Yeah, the resemblance was there if you were looking for it, but there was something of his adoptive father too, especially in the way he spoke. He put certain accents on words and letters, exactly like Jade did. It was…cool.

"Wait. That still doesn't tell me how you got here. Do you have some time machine hidden somewhere?"

"Not here…the device was actually very easy to make once I knew how. But of course there was no reciprocating device on this end. I had to leave it behind. Don't worry; I'm not stuck. I can build another one in less than a day and return to exactly where and when I left."

"So why not tell the truth? Why hide who are you?"

"Too much Papa's son too, I guess. Too worried about what I'd be asked to do. Vilo…I'm here to do this job. Maybe it's selfish but I like my life. No, I love my life and I want to make sure it continues. That means I do this, and then I leave. It doesn't mean I can go fix other things. I'm trying to keep history on track, not change it. If people don't know I can change things, they won't ask me to."

"I still don't understand." Vilo's fingers toyed with the blanket on the bed.

"What if I went back a little ways from now and saved your mother's life? On the surface, that's a very noble thing to do, keeping a mother and child together. Saving her from a horrible death. But what happens then? You keep your mother, but grow up a criminal? Or wind up murdered in the streets? There are a million things I could fix, but only leading to a million more problems. It would be like trying to patch a leaking roof because I don't know how things might be, only how they are. That's what I have to stick to."

"So what am I like in the future?" Vilo asked, pushing the thoughts about his mother away. "Come on, I know you're gonna be a jerk and not tell me much, but you have to tell me something. I've got a really hot wife, right?"

Virgil sighed. "You're right. I'm not going to tell you much, but…yes, she's very pretty, but that's not why you love her. You've got a beautiful family that adores you. You make things very difficult on those of us who have no desire as of yet to settle down. I have to hear lectures every time I go home about how happy I'd be if I just 'found some nice young man.'" He did such a perfect mimicry of Saphir's voice that Vilo almost applauded.

"So you take after Saphir in other ways, huh? No girls?"

"Absolutely. Just another thing to set me apart from the other boys my age, or so I thought at the time. I've since come to a better understanding it about, especially now that I can actually use it to my benefit."

"Ah, you get a lot of action, then." Vilo elbowed him in the ribs.

"I don't do badly. Papa was a big help in that regard as well; he's a firm believer in a little 'recreational fun' as he puts it. Is that strange, that my father gives me advice on how to pick up strange men?"

"No…that sounds like my Dad."

"I love him, Vilo. Every bit as much as I love my biological father. He never once treated me any differently because I didn't share his blood, and in some ways he was a lot easier to talk to about certain subjects because he could stay calm and rational. He also taught me that having a sense of humor could get you through a lot of hurdles in life, and that you're a fool if you can't learn to laugh at yourself."

"So my Dad's okay, right? He's gonna be alright?"

"He will be. I have to let things play out, Vilo. Please understand that. Certain things have to happen for it to work out right. You may not know why at the time, but I promise I'm not going to let you down. I do have a vested interest in this."

Vilo leaned over and hugged him tightly, and Virgil felt some of the stress and tension melting out of him. The arms were skinny, far smaller than he remembered, but the embrace was the same. The love was the same. This was still his big brother, just in a more compact form, and nothing was ever so bad or so hopeless that Vilo couldn't make it better.

_Be brave, Papa. I know it's hard right now, but I'm going to come for you. Vilo and I are going to come for you. Just hold on…_

***************************

"Whoa, Jade, wait up." Guy ran after his friend down the cobblestone street.

"I'm going to the palace."

"I get that. Bet you're really eager to see Saphir and Vilo again. But really, I think you should get some rest before you and Saphir get reacquainted. You've been acting weird since before we even left the Void."

Jade gave him a half-smile and continued walking.

"See? This is what I mean. You're been really pushing yourself too hard on this. I know you're worried about what's going to happen but you need some down time. You're only human." Guy was hurrying to keep up with him.

"You've been spending far too much time with Anise. There's an anthill over there; maybe you should go make it into a mountain."

That was what was wrong…Guy shook himself but kept close to Jade. No one else seemed to notice it, just wrote it off as Jade being Jade, but there was no warmth in his eyes now when he was teasing them. Jade's eyes were the most expressive part of him; he could speak volumes without words. Even when he was having fun at their expense that spark of mischief was always there, that feeling that he wouldn't be picking on them if he didn't care. Now his teasing just came across as, well, mean.

Jade turned down a small alley and Guy, puzzled, followed. "I think maybe you should see a doctor. You fell pretty hard back on the Albiore. You're really not yourself and I'm worried about you."

Jade stopped walking and smiled at him, and then put a hand on the side of Guy's face. "That's touching, Guy. But you may want to be worried more about yourself right now." His hand jerked, and Guy's head smashed into the side of the closest building.

The replica watched as Guy began to spasm and slide down the wall, leaving a red snails-trail of blood behind him on his way, his eyes rolling back into his head before closing. The replica reached out one thin finger and scooped up some of the blood, bringing it to his mouth and making a noise of pleasure.

Leaving the crumpled heap on the ground, and still licking his lips, the replica continued on his path toward the palace.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N:**

_Sorry this chapter too awhile to get posted. Some more great internal debate about what I should and should not include. IE Ivan. I considered just leaving all the Ivan parts out and posting a quick summary about who he is and why Virgil usually wants to kill him. In the end I included it because it made me smile; since it's all two OC's interacting feel free to skip over if you want to; it won't affect the flow of the story in any way. Ivan has made finding Virgil's buttons and pushing them a lifelong pursuit, but he has his reasons… And don't worry: Jade's not really losing his mind; it's just the situation is getting to him a bit. I'm not really overly happy again with this one…_

**Chapter 32**

_The house wasn't very large, but there was more than enough room for a man who lived alone and liked it that way. A living area combined with a library, a kitchen for when he didn't take his meals out, a bedroom for when he finally had to give into sleep, and his workroom, in which no visitor was ever allowed to set foot. This was his sanctuary, his nest, and the one place in the world where he could truly be himself and not have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. He sat at his desk now completely emerged in his work and completely happy; the king of his solitary domain. _

"_Boo!"_

_Virgil jumped so high his head nearly hit the ceiling, and the tiny soldering iron fell out of his hand, bouncing on the table and leaving a scorch mark on the wood._

"_Damn it, Ivan!" He wheeled around to glare at the young man, who was doubled over laughing. "That's not funny! I nearly burned myself! How did you get in here?"_

"_I'm sorry…sorry…it was just too easy." The boy grinned at him, long blond hair falling over his left eye. "Are you okay?"_

"_Fine, no thanks to you." Virgil grabbed the iron and shoved it back into its holder. "I know I locked that door…"_

"_Yes you did. Very inconsiderate of you, by the way. I had to pick the lock again." Ivan flopped down in a soft red velvet chair and put his legs up over the end. "So…how're things?"_

_Virgil tried to control his temper. While throttling Ivan would be personally satisfying, there were other factors to consider. Uncle Peony, for one thing, who was extremely fond of the whelp. _

"_Don't you have anything better to do? Anything besides tormenting me?" Virgil considered going back to his work but decided it was probably useless. Once here, Ivan would persist on asking questions about things he couldn't possibly understand and in general make a nuisance of himself. _

"_Not at the moment." The boy put his hands behind his head. "It's been a very boring day. Want to go somewhere? You really need to get out more; you're starting to look a little pasty."_

"_I am not pasty. I'm naturally pale; there's a difference. And may I remind you that some of us weren't born royalty: we're actually expected to contribute something to society instead of just lounging around all day in love with our own importance!"_

"_That's harsh, Virg." Ivan put a hand to his chest. "Why are you always so mean to me?"_

_Yes, it was a bit harsh, but for some reason Ivan always seemed to bring out the worst in him and Virgil wasn't sure why. He didn't have that reaction to Peony's older son, Edgar. But Edgar was different; he was the heir and took it seriously. Ivan, the spare, was pretty much consigned to unnecessary diplomatic visits to Kimlasca and building dedications. This left him plenty of free time to do as he liked, and from the time he'd been a little boy his favorite pastime had been following, harassing, and teasing Virgil. There was no reason for it, no explanation. Appeals to Uncle Peony had fallen on deaf ears; he found the entire thing hilarious and always promised "to have a talk with him" which accomplished nothing. Ivan would pout for about a week and then go right back to his old tricks. _

_It didn't help matters in the slightest that at eighteen Ivan was, to be blunt about it, a raving beauty. He even put his handsome father into the shadows; his hair was a shade light, his features more delicate, and combined with Peony's easy-going attitude and smile he was considered almost irresistible by the general masses of Grand Chokmah. In his too-large blue silk shirt and hacked-off shorts, he had no doubt broken a dozen hearts on his way over here. It was disgusting._

"_Don't call me Virg!" Virgil snapped now, and then mentally kicked himself. Of all the stupid things to react to._

"_Did you know your parents are about to put your face on a missing poster?" Ivan grinned at him now. "They were over last night, griping about how long it's been since they've seen you. Heck, Vilo lives on the other side of the world and they see him more than they see you."_

_Virgil sighed. On that, Ivan had a valid point, but it wouldn't do to let him know that. He already felt guilty enough for being too busy to stop by for regular visits. He'd have to rectify that soon. "I'm going to go see them tomorrow."_

"_Why not today?"_

"_Because I have work to do today, that's why."_

_Ivan stood up, and Virgil made himself look away. "What are you working on? Can I help?"_

"_No, you may not. You wouldn't understand any of it." Virgil snapped. _

_The boy moved closer, and Virgil took a step back. Ivan turned away and Virgil relaxed, but only for a moment. Ivan turned on his heel and dove past him, snatching a diagram off of the work-table. _

"_Give that back!" Virgil was furious. _

_Ivan paid no attention, staring perplexed and the icons and abbreviations on the page. "Do you actually understand all this?"_

"_Of course I understand it! I won't be working on it if I didn't understand it."_

"_So you're really planning on this whole time-travel thingy?"_

_If Ivan had announced he was planning on growing another head Virgil couldn't have been more shocked. He tried to speak but it came out a tiny squeaking noise. "How…"_

"_I found your journal the other day when you weren't home. I knew you were up to something. As a prince of Malkuth it's my responsibility to ensure the safety of my citizens, after all." Ivan patted him on the shoulder. "I have to say I didn't believe it at first; but I mean, hey, it's you."_

"_You broke into my house…you read my journal…" Virgil couldn't recall ever being as angry in his life._

"_Wow, sit down. You're really red!" Ivan pushed him and Virgil fell back into his chair, sputtering. "Yeah, so? What are you going to do, have me arrested? Fact is, I know. And I also know that Uncle Jade isn't exactly going to be excited about this." Ivan folded his arms across his chest. "So if you don't want me to go tattling to your parents, tell me everything. Every detail. Then I'll decide if I should keep my mouth shut."_

_Virgil was finally calm enough to speak "Blackmail is unbecoming of a prince…"_

"_So are a lot of other things. Talk, Virg."_

_Virgil explained as simply as he could, trying to not confuse the blond menace with complicated words or technical terms. Ivan listened and nodded now and then, but said nothing. _

"_So you see, if I don't do this, then more than likely I won't be here. You may not be here. None of us may be here."_

"_That's quite a burden…" Ivan sounded serious for once. "Don't you feel better that you've shared it with someone?"_

_Virgil glared at him._

"_Okay, I understand. You need to do this. Got it. I won't tell your parents or try to stop you from going, if…"_

"_If what?"_

"_When you get back, you agree to have dinner with me. I don't mean at the palace with my family or at your house. I mean a date. A real one."_

"_You're out of your mind!" _

"_No…actually I'm not. I've been waiting for a chance like this for four years now. I figured you'd refuse unless I had something to hold over your head and I'm not wasting it. I'm only asking for one date."_

_The world swam around Virgil for a moment. "Of all the lamebrained things you've done over the years, this really takes the cake. Do you think this is funny?" He was back on his feet, shaking. "Heaven knows why, but I actually expected better from you!"_

"_Whoa, what you talking about?" Ivan held up his hands as Virgil advanced on him. _

"_You think you know a joke I haven't heard before? I've heard them all! Well, the joke's on you because I have no problem at all with being the way I am! So you can take your stupid, narrow-minded…"_

_Ivan moved faster than Virgil had thought possible, grabbing him and pulling him forward, pinning his arms to his sides. Virgil struggled, but the younger man held him tightly. Virgil was older but Ivan was nearly six inches taller and weighed considerably more. "You finished?"_

"_Let go of me!"_

"_I thought about kissing you just now. Really, really considered it. Isn't that how it works in romance novels, the angry tirade silenced with a kiss? Don't worry; I know you're not ready for all that yet. But for a genius, you're not too bright sometimes."_

_He laughed at the look on Virgil's face. "You still don't think I'm serious… I know all about your reputation, you know. We've been in some of the same places at the same times and I've had to do some fancy footwork to keep you for seeing me. One date, my treat. All I'm asking for is a chance." He released Virgil's arms. "One chance."_

"_One date." Virgil sighed. "Just so you can get it through your thick skull what a bad idea this is. I don't date. I have no desire for anything serious at this point in my life and even if I did you would be the last person I'd consider."_

_Maybe I'll get lucky and get myself killed on this mission. Well, I don't have to honor my word. Once it's said and over with who cares who he tells? I'll play along for now. Where in the world did he get this ridiculous idea…where does he get any of them? I have half a mind to complain to Uncle Peony…no, I'll handle it. I'm going back in time to help fight a monster, after all._

_  
I should be able to handle one hormonal teenager…._

*************************************

Noah remembered his life. All of his various lives.

The problem was that memories were based on perception. A fish perceived the world differently than a man would and so those memories had to be filtered from a fish's point of view. When he'd ran on four legs he'd thought like a four-legged thing and even his memories of Lloyd were the memories of a loyal pet to his master, not as one equal to another.

But those memories and those divergent points of view over the years had sharpened his senses; he saw the world as a man now but still possessed the abilities to go into his head and view it as a beast might, and that skill had saved his life more than once. And even before he'd left the Void, those animal instincts had been clamoring at him telling him that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

Outside of the entrance of the hotel, he stopped now, glancing over at Kratos, but before he could speak there was a feeling inside of his head, a kind of…snapping sensation. Evil. Something worse than evil; putrid, rotten. No close but not far, but it had been close enough that the stench still lingered on his clothing and that of Kratos.

He turned and ran as fast he could down the street, with his old friend only a step behind. That was the good thing about their relationship; they didn't need to waste time with pointless questions.

He stopped only when he came to a knot of people gathered around an alley and saw to his horror a familiar figure being gently moved onto a stretcher.

"Guy!" Noah nudged the crowd aside and fell to his knees next to the man. He felt rather than saw Kratos move next to him.

"We need to get him to the hospital." The guard who had found Guy was saying at large. "Help me lift him. Someone go to the palace and get Colonel Curtiss' kid! Colonel told us not to use him but it's an emergency. Someone find me some gels! Now!"

"I'm telling you, it was the Colonel who did it!" A robust woman shouted out. "I saw him go into the alley with the boy with my own two eyes! The Reaper's done something to him, corrupted him!"

Kratos froze. "Jade… you're saying Jade attacked him?"

He and Noah looked at each other and came to the same conclusion at once.

"He's headed to the palace! Vilo…"

Noah was on his feet again, cursing the fact that he was far slower than when he had four of them to depend upon.

Please don't let me be too late…

******************************

The human body was simply not meant or designed to be able to excel at everything. If one had a particular strength, it was usually matched by a companion weakness. Some felt this was conscious on the part of some celestial designer to keep his or her creations humble.

Jade viewed it as a pain in the ass.

His left brain was extraordinarily powerful and over-developed. In areas of deduction and reason he had few equals; mathematics came as easily to him as breathing. When it came to diagnosing a problem he could quickly follow a chain of events to the logical solution.

The price he paid for this ability was steep; his right brain was almost useless by this point in his life. Any feeble attempts it made to assert itself were immediately ridiculed into submission by the left, and this led to the right brain feeling grossly unappreciated and existing a state of perpetual sulk. Jade hadn't tried in years to cajole it into lending a neuron; when he needed right-brained function he outsourced to Saphir. His lover had more than enough right-brain to share (and was on slightly better terms with his Left than Jade was with his Right, but only just slightly.)

"If this is entirely in my mind." He spoke out loud, feeling the walls of the cell around him. "Then I should be able to control it, even if I can't escape. I should be able to make captivity a bit more bearable."

_Logical_, his left brain agreed.

"Thank you."

"So I can imagine myself in different surroundings."

Silence.

"I said, I can imagine I'm somewhere different."

_Oh, so now you need me?_ His right brain sniffed. _After years of abuse and neglect, now you come crawling back? _

"Why do you sound like Saphir?" Jade sighed. "That's why I stopped speaking to you, you know. It was one thing to have him always in my shadow; I drew the line at having him in my head as well."

_You might want to be nicer if you want my help_. Now Right sounded smug.

_You don't need him._ Left had to interject_. Simply think about this logically and you'll find your way out._

_Oh yes, that's worked out nicely so far,_ Right pointed out. _Well, it so happens I've been left to atrophy for so long now I don't even know if I can do what you're asking. _

"Fine. I apologize profoundly for neglecting you and thinking you weren't important. Now can you at least try to help?"

_I'll try but I'm not making any promises. Where do you want to go?_

"I'm thinking." He'd almost said home, but stopped himself. He didn't want to imagine he was back in Grand Chokmah with his family; he wanted to actually be there. Nothing else would do in that regard but the real thing. If he was going to play make-believe for the first time in his life, then he was going to go all-out. A conversation from a few weeks ago popped into his head.

"_Vilo, I've always been curious…where did your mother come up with your name? I've never heard it before."_

"_Oh, that? It's kind of a funny story…"_

The room around Jade shimmered and faded, then reformed into something completely different.

The bed was small and the sheets were well-worn, but clean. The entire little wooden room was spotless; the owner didn't have much but what she did have she took care of. Her possessions were limited to the bed, a small dresser, a writing desk, and a small, empty crib off to the side. The desk was covered in tiny, folded outfits, clearly at least 3rd hand and other odds and ends a baby might need.

The reason for the items was clear; in the middle of the bed a small, black-haired woman cried out in pain as an elderly midwife knelt between her open legs and cooed words of comfort to her. "Good, Dulcie. Good lass. Come on, a bit more. Ah, I see the head now; a darkling like his Ma. One more good push and you'll have it."

Dulcie screamed and her muscles twitched and with one last shove her body expelled the baby into the midwife's waiting hands. The old woman laughed in delight and held the child up in the dim lamplight. "A healthy son, my dear, and an angry one." She spoke loudly for two reasons; the infant was howling in fury and her hearing had been failing for years now.

Jade knew they couldn't see him, couldn't hear him, and that this wasn't real, but he couldn't stop staring at the tiny, squirming creature in the old woman's hands. He would have snatched him away if at all possible. The child kicked his bare legs and waved his clenched fists in impotent fury as the cord was severed and his life became entirely his own.

"So will you be giving him a name, Dulcie?" The midwife placed the wiggling baby into his tearful mother's waiting arms, and then turned away to gather up the bloody towels.

"Milo." Dulcie spoke up proudly. "His name is Milo."

"Ehhh?" The midwife turned, confused. "Vilo? What kind of a name is Vilo?"

Dulcie glanced up from her son, and opened her mouth to correct the woman, and then stopped. "It's a good name; one that will be his and his alone. Too many Toms and Joes in the world to my thinking. Vilo is perfect for him."

"Well, he's your lad. I suppose I've heard worse in my time." The old woman patted Dulcie on the arm. "Let me get him washed up and diapered, and then see if he wants to eat. He's a bit on the thin side but nothing you can't remedy."

Fascinated, Jade continued to watch as the old nurse scrubbed the infant down and dressed in him a threadbare white gown. Dulcie brought Vilo to her chest and he began to suckle loudly for the first time. His fingers curled around her thumb and his tiny face relaxed as the fear of the day began to fade away. Jade reached forward, ghosting his hand just above the illusion that was his son.

The vision faded, and he was back in the dark cell. Once again, that unknown source of comfort washed over him from his unseen prison-mate, the mental equivalent of a hand rubbing his back. Then an odd feeling washed over him, and he knew, somehow, that everything was going to be okay. Hard for now, perhaps, but he knew with a hard certainty that he would survive this and make it back home.

He thought back to the image he'd just seen; Vilo's first moments of life. I wasn't there; I should have been there, but I wasn't. Nothing is going to stop me from being there for the rest of it.

I just have to be patient. They'll come for me.

I know they'll come for me.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N:**

_I'll admit it right now. Action scenes are my weak area. I've never been very good at writing them. But, it has to be done, and you don't get better at something unless you practice, right? So hopefully it doesn't stink too badly…*grins*. And yes, Virgil does come across as a bit of jerk in part of this. That's because he can really be one at times. He just needs an attitude adjustment…luckily a certain young prince has the right tool for the job. (Oh god, I did not just say that. *smacks self* Bad!)_

**Chapter 33**

_The storm had taken its sweet time arriving, but when it finally did it broke with a fury over Grand Chokmah. Vilo stirred awake and it took his foggy brain a full minute to realize why. He hardly ever woke up in the middle of the night anymore; what had happened?_

_Lightning? No, lightning never bothered him; from viewed indoors it was actually beautiful._

_Thunder? Nah, he could sleep through just about anything. _

_Little, shivering body huddled next to him, hugging him so tightly he could barely breathe?_

_  
Yeah, that just might do it…_

_Vilo yawned and pulled back the blankets. There was another flash of lightning, and for just a second he saw the glitter of terrified eyes before the thunder followed and they were squeezed shut again. The arms around his waist tightened and the younger boy whimpered._

"_It's okay, Virg. Just a storm, remember? Nothing to be scared of." He tried to pry his little brother loose, but Virgil was amazingly strong for a three-year-old. _

"_Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop."_

_Vilo sat up and pulled Virgil into his lap, rocking him. "Shhh…I can't make it stop. You know that. Just light and noise. Nothing's going to hurt you."_

_There was another peal of thunder and Virgil moaned, burying his face into Vilo's pajama shirt. _

"_PleasemakeitstopVilo."_

_Vilo stood up, carrying the boy with him, and turned on the overhead light. He settled back down on the bed, stroking Virgil's back. "We'll wait it out together. I promise I'll be right here until it's over. Do you really think I'd let some stupid storm do anything to you?" _

_Finally the little boy relaxed in his arms, but didn't let go, keeping his head against Vilo's heart. "I'm not a baby." _

"_I know that, silly. I know you're not a baby." Vilo kissed the child's tousled white hair. _

_Virgil was quiet for so long Vilo thought he'd fallen asleep, and then finally spoke. "Can we pretend anyway?"_

"_I think that's a really good idea."_

_Virgil nodded and one thumb crept into his mouth as Vilo continued to rock him and the storm outside raged on._

*************************

Virgil sighed as he glanced at his reflection in the mirror. As if this ugly mud-colored hair wasn't bad enough, there were matching dark circles now under both of his eyes. He looked like the walking Undead. Especially with the snowy-white stubble marring his cheeks and upper lip. No one would ever believe this was Virgil Neis; world-renowned Fontechnician. He'd have better luck passing himself off as the town drunk.

It was the storm's fault. He never slept well during thunderstorms; how anyone could was completely beyond him. All that noise and light and the entire room shaking around him; it made him sick to his stomach. Sometimes literally; even at home he slept with a bucket next to his bed just in case.

For one brief moment during the worst of it, the temptation to go tearing down the hall and back into Vilo's room was almost overwhelming. Then he stopped to consider reality; except for Vilo no one here knew they were brothers, and trying to explain why a man in his mid-twenties had been found in bed with an eleven-year-old probably would have been rather difficult. If he'd been given a chance to explain before Peony had had his throat slit, that was.

Besides, his irrational fear of storms had always been humiliating, and a self-proclaimed Hero From the Future did have a certain image to uphold. Vilo would learn his character flaws in time. (He had once spent several months petrified of butterflies, although he had absolutely no idea now why that had been, and his family was kind enough to seldom mention it.)

So he'd gritted his teeth and gutted the night out, but the result was that by morning he was wrinkled, grainy-eyed, and not in the best of moods. However, the storm had finally stopped, and the breeze when he forced open the window was refreshing. Outside the window he could see gardeners puttering around trying to fix toppled lawn-chairs and tables. They didn't look unhappy, and it dawned on him that after the recent devastation of the flood, something this minor was almost a holiday.

A little while later, after a hot shower, a shave, and a change of clothing Peony had provided him, he felt slightly more human (even if the clothing had come with a good laugh from the Emperor about forgetting to pack). Although a bit outdated (by his own standards), it was clean and comfortable and that was all that really mattered.

Sure, blame it all on the storm, he thought now soberly. You know that's not the only thing that kept you awake.

Maybe I should have told him what happens today, prepared him for it. No, can't take that chance. It has to play out. I can't interfere even though…how can I do this? How can I just sit back and let it happen when I know how frightened he's going to be…

He walked now through the palace and down the stairs,, his stomach beginning to growl and his head still trying to remind him where he was and why he was here.

Everything was so different than he knew it; not just the water damage but the entire air of the palace itself. It seemed to be in stasis; asleep before the chaos that would soon enough descend upon it. The palace he was familiar with never slept.

Not long from now (he'd been told Uncle Peony had been inspired by his own birth) His Majesty would finally decide he wanted his own children and set into motion the chain of events that had led to the line of succession becoming doubly secure. Not only had Peony been blessed with two sons he adored, but also a marriage that had grown quickly from one of convenience and mutual desire to a loving and happy union.

Even if the result of that union could at times be a royal pain in the ass.

"Hey, Virgil! Wait up!"

"Keep your voice down!" He hissed as Vilo hurried over to him, already dressed for another day of debris clean-up. It still came as something of a shock, looking down at his brother instead of up.

"Sorry. Sorry, Riles." Vilo grinned. "Where are you headed?"

"Trying to get some food in me." He paused. "Look, Vilo…"

"What?"

"Today's a big day. Remember last night when I said you needed to trust me?"

"Sure." Vilo fell into step next to him.

"Well..."

"Something bad, isn't it?" Vilo realized. "And you can't tell me…"

"I wish I could. It's going to take everything I've got today to stand back… please just keep trusting me."

"No one gets killed do they? I know you can't interfere but if someone's gonna die, I at least need to know so I can say goodbye." The boy replied softly. He didn't add "like I didn't get to say goodbye to my mother". He didn't have to.

"No. If someone dies it means I've failed." Virgil squeezed his shoulder and looked around the palace again. "The future has some pretty good stuff in it, Big Brother. I'll get you there."

"Tell me more. Just a little bit." Vilo urged.

"Okay." Virgil laughed. "You know that big blank wall near the ballroom here?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, in my time it's completely covered with this huge mural of the city. When people come here to visit, that's one of the first things they want to see. It was painted by a very famous artist; his work goes for millions. People call him a gift from the heavens. You just call him Charlie."

"No way…I knew he was good, but…"

"He's better than good. He just needs a little more confidence and some training. I'm not overly fond of most of the Curtiss bunch; they're toads. But Charlie and Winston have always been decent to me."

"Winston?" Vilo blinked. "He's the biggest toad of all!"

"Well, he's not your greatest fan either." Virgil laughed. "But for some reason we took to each other; I think it surprised him as much as everyone else." He turned serious. "Vilo, I told you last night it wasn't always easy for me, on account of my paternity. I made people nervous. From the time I was small Winston worked against that on my behalf; made sure I was introduced to the right people. Made sure I attended the right functions when I got older. It sounds shallow, I know, but it made a world of difference. He knew they'd respect me if they got to know me; it was getting them to give me that chance that was the biggest challenge."

"Well, it sure doesn't sound like the Winston I know." Vilo grumbled. "But hey, people change."

From the kitchen, they could suddenly hear shouting.

"I said I'll be out of your way in a minute, you illiterate cretin! Give me that skillet!"

"Iffan ya wanna eat and ya don wanna eat what I prepares then ya can damn well wait until I'm done cookin' for the folk that do!"

"I will not wait! I happen to be in very frail health at the moment!"

Then a higher voice, just as angry. "You give Saphir that pan right now or I'll set your shoes on fire, Human!"

Vilo giggled. "Do they ever? Change, I mean?"

"No." Virgil grinned back. "Not a bit."

"Good." Vilo nodded. "I know it sounds weird, but I'm glad about that. I like them the way they are."

"So do I. But if we want them to remain that way we better go intervene before they both get beaned with a frying pan."

*****************************

"Do you have your lunch?" Saphir asked, giving Vilo a once-over before sending him off to his assignment.

"Yes, I have my lunch."

"Does it actually contain food, or just junk? Again."

Vilo sighed and opened the bag for Saphir's inspection. "See? Lots of fruit. I even have carrots in there. Now can I please just go? Charlie's waiting for me."

Finally satisfied that Vilo wasn't going to fall over dead of exhaustion and starvation, Saphir nodded. "Don't overdo it, and don't try to show off by lifting more than you can handle. And don't you dare go near any black mold without your mask."

"Yes, Mom…" Vilo grinned at him.

Watching the exchange, Virgil smiled to himself. Vilo didn't know it but Saphir was never going to outgrow that need to "mother" him. A man grown with children of his own, Vilo still was subjected to the same lectures Virgil received about the importance of eating properly and taking time off to enjoy himself. Of course, Vilo also got the added bonus of unsolicited advice regarding his offspring, usually followed by a painful "Well, I suppose you know best…" which indicated to everyone within earshot that Vilo was being particularly dense on the subject of childrearing. Lucky, his wife was good-natured enough not to take the comments personally. Otherwise family gatherings could have turned ugly.

Still, it was interesting to see it from this angle. Saphir was still new at this point to the entire 'parenting' thing and Vilo was still clearly not used to having someone make a fuss over him. It gave him a better understanding of the bond that they shared and how it had been forged in those early days.

"Sometimes I felt so guilty." Vilo had told him once. "I was…happy. I was a lot happier than I'd ever been in Chesedonia with my mother and it bothered me. My happiness, the good life I'd been given, came with a high price. I knew that if somehow my mother had come back from the dead and wanted me to go back with her I would have refused; I would have wanted to stay with my father and Saphir. That's a lot for a kid to have to deal with. I wasn't nearly as tough as I thought I was; I think Saphir understood that a lot better than Dad did. He knew I needed the extra attention even if I grumbled about it."

Vilo hugged Saphir tightly and waved to Virgil, and then took off at a dead run toward the door.

"He seems like a handful." Virgil commented.

"Several of them." Saphir laughed. "But he's worth it. Do you have children, Mr. Siving?"

"Heavens no." Virgil shuddered. "I have two nieces and a nephew, all of whom I adore, and even then I can only take them in small doses. Luckily they've all outgrown the 'oozing' stage."

"I've decided to have one of my own, although that's not common knowledge yet." Saphir wasn't sure why he was telling this stranger this, but shrugged it off. "While I'm not looking forward much to the oozing business, I've decided the benefits may outweigh the drawbacks. Hopefully my son or daughter will feel the same."

"He will." Virgil blurted out and Saphir looked at him curiously.

"My mother…" Virgil whipped lies and truth together quickly in his brain. "She wasn't sure she wanted children; she had some health problems and thought perhaps it would be too much of a burden for me. She was also afraid, although she didn't tell anyone, that I would inherit those…problems."

"So what changed her mind?"

"She reached the same conclusion you did, that she wanted it enough to take a chance. Oh, every child goes through the whole 'I never asked to be born' bit and I was no different. The minute life becomes a bit difficult it's easy to blame those who gave it to you. But Saphir, if your child ever tells you that, that he wishes you weren't his father…he doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean a word of it, I promise."

"You're close to your parents, then. Are they both living?"

"Yes, both living and still very much in love."

_And I won't take anything less in my own life. I've grown up watching you and Papa work together, and that's what I want. I don't just want a lover; I could find that anywhere. I want someone who's my intellectual equal, a partnership in every sense of the word. Which is why I need to make it so clear to Ivan that if he's entertaining any thoughts of us together he's wasting his time. He's attractive enough but mentally he's so…average. _

_I have no intentions of settling for average._

**********************************

He didn't have a name. His Creator had never bothered to give him one. He didn't mind when they called him Jade, though. He liked the name. He liked Jade.

Jade's thoughts and emotions had been dutifully copied over to him, so that he could access what he needed in order to accomplish what his Creator required of him. It was absolutely riveting, and in the moments he'd snatched alone he happily flipped through them, trying them on as if they were different outfits and admiring them from different angles.

Jade wanted.

The replica moved down the street toward the palace, lost in thought.

Jade was someone who never stopped wanting, who was consumed at all times by the need for something more than he currently had. Sometimes it was knowledge, or a new ability, or food, or sex, but it was always something. It was as if there was a bottomless hole inside of him, something he could never really appease, and the replica understood that and applauded it.

Jade lusted.

Having the means at hand to slake this desire whenever he wished had not diminished it. Neither had the rapid advancement of middle age. The memories were vivid and arousing to the replica. Although often pushed aside so that he could accomplish other things, Jade was never far removed from his most basic of desires and felt absolutely no shame in this. He embraced this bestial part of himself, nurtured it lovingly, and gave it free reign to do as it wished when circumstances allowed.

Jade loved.

That he didn't understand, and he was enough of Jade that something he didn't understand could not simply be ignored. It had to be prodded and studied and figured out.

Why did Jade love? Because the people filled his needs? Saphir for the lust, and for his slavish devotion to Jade's desires? Perhaps. Why the child then? Because men measured themselves on the strength and accomplishments of their offspring? It was baffling.

People nodded at him as he walked down the street, some saluting and some bowing. Jade was obviously well-respected here. Most likely because of the awesome power he commanded. The replica could feel it singing in his blood, and the urge to demonstrate it was overwhelming. He chafed against the restraint he was forced to show, swallowed hard against the words of the spells he longed to unleash. So much power, so much ability. Why did the man waste it? There was no reason for him to show restraint. Why didn't he cow them before him, make them respect him, fear him? What held him back?

In the distance he could see two boys walking together and laughing, and again he tapped down the urge to obliterate them. The smaller of the two noticed him then and broke away from his friend, running toward the replica at full speed.

"Dad!"

The replica barely had time to brace himself before the child, Jade's child, was in his arms clinging to him tightly. "You're okay! I was so worried about you." The boy's voice was muffled. He finally pulled back. "Did you do it? Did you kill Lẽtum? Where's everyone else?"

"Back on the Albiore. Come on, we need you." The replica moved back. "I'll explain everything when we get there, but we need your abilities."

"Is someone hurt?" Vilo released the replica.

"No, no, nothing like that, but we need to hurry."

Once the boy was secure and subdued, he'd come back for Neis. His creator had made it very clear he wanted Neis as well.

"Dad, I can't just take off. You know how upset Saphir'll be if I just disappear? I have at least go tell him."

"There isn't time. He'll get over it. Now stop being stubborn and come on."

Vilo paused and tilted his head, giving the replica an odd look. He took a step backward, and almost backed into Charlie, who had come to welcome Jade home as well.

"Vilo, what…" Charlie asked, baffled. The replica moved toward them and Vilo backed up, again, pulling Charlie with him.

"That's not my Dad." Vilo's street-honed instincts were alive, and he knew, although he wasn't sure how he knew, that this…thing in front of him wasn't Jade, couldn't have been less like Jade.

"This is ridiculous." The replica was furious. "I order you to come with me right now!"

"Charlie, run!" Vilo took off back toward the palace. "Hurry!"

Vilo's fear was enough for Charlie. He took off after his cousin, but he was overweight and out of shape, and before he'd gone more than a few steps he felt the Jade-things arms go around him, pulling him backward, and a hand was around his neck. Vilo stopped and wheeled around, his eyes horrified.

"Vilo, go!" Charlie rasped out. "Keep going!"

"Let go of him! Let him go right now!" Vilo was livid.

"I have no use for him." The replica agreed. "Come with me and I'll release him. But if you haven't decided in ten seconds I'll snap his neck."

"Vilo, don't do it!" Noah rounded the corner with Kratos at his heels. "Stay away from it."

The replica turned and hissed and his fingers tightened on Charlie's neck.

"Let him go. There's no way out of this." Kratos moved forward. "We'll show mercy if you ask for it."

Charlie's face was turning crimson from the lack of air. Vilo had had enough.

"POW HAMMER!"

The replica turned again at the attack, taking Charlie with him. It was the distraction Kratos needed.

"GRAVE BLADE!"

The replica fell to his knees and his grip on Charlie loosened. Noah moved forward and caught the child, yanking him away from the replica and grabbing Vilo at the same time. Charlie was stumbling, choking, and leaning heavily against the man.

"Get into the palace, now!" Noah ordered. "Both of you. Get help."

"What about…"

"Go!"

Vilo ran again toward the palace, pulling the wobbly Charlie behind him, and his blood froze at the familiar voice hissing "MYSTIC CAGE!"

"SHINING BIND!" Came the swift reply, and there was the sound of stones shattering from the force of the attack.

_Get help. Get help. Get help. That's a replica, I know that's a replica. But if it came back with Kratos, like it seems to have, then where's my Dad?_

_Please Dad, wherever you really are, please be okay._

_Please._


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N:**

_I know this chapter was a long while in coming. Cliff notes version: I am only inspired (for some reason) to write when I'm at work. However, on April 30__th__, my office was shut down because of the economy and we were all laid off. Real life has consisted of finding another job as soon as possible, adjusting to that job, and adjusting to the fact that this one isn't as…understanding as my last job about cures for writer's block. I promise, I haven't given up on this story. __**I should also warn that this chapter contains some seriously disturbing content (to me anyway). **__Thanks as always to everyone who is reading._

**Chapter 34**

One more year.

Virgil sat at the back of the classroom, half-listening to the instructor drone on about ancient kingdoms long gone. If by chance his inattention was noticed and he was called upon to answer, he could parrot back enough of the lecture to get away with it. Today his mind was elsewhere.

He was fifteen today. One more year of this. One more turn of the planet and he'd be free. Free to fly away to Sheridan, away from the too-familiar streets and places and people of Grand Chokmah and begin his _real_ life. He'd finally be with others like himself instead of these pampered, spoiled, overstuffed little nobles who looked down their long noses at him and whispered behind his back. And to his face.

"_Hey, Virgin. Are you a Virgin, Virgil? Is that why your name's Virgin?"_

Really, was that the best they could come up with? He'd been hearing that little gem since he was about six or seven, long before his tormenters even had the slightest clue what a virgin was. The fact that they still used it all these years later said quite a bit, in his own opinion. This was supposed to be a school for the intelligent, not simply the wealthy, but Virgil was savvy enough to understand that even the best schools were not adverse to a bit of bribery.

Well, not Sheridan. Sheridan only took the best of the best and they wanted him. To be fair, Belkend wanted him too. He'd received acceptance letters from both of them only a few months ago, and if wasn't for that stupid age requirement he'd have already packed his bags. He'd even tried to coax his parents into asking Sheridan to relax the rule…

Listen to me, he thought angrily. One minute I'm sulking because this school broke their rules and allowed in dimwits at their parents request, and now I'm mad because Sheridan, the school I admire so much for their standards, won't break them for me. I'm such an idiot.

The day dragged on, and Virgil felt his attention waning more and more as the sun started to set outside the classroom window. A few here had remembered his birthday and wished him well, but as far as he was concerned it wouldn't really begin until he was at home. Vilo and his family would be there, and hopefully so would the new fonoscope he'd been hinting so desperately at for months now. Any minute now…

The bell finally rang and Virgil was the first one out the door, instead of lingering last as usual. Today, it didn't even bother him watching the other kids pair up or split off into groups because he had more important places to be, more important things to do. He slipped unnoticed out onto the sidewalk and started for home.

"Virgil! Hey, Virgil! Wait up!"

Groaning to himself, Virgil stopped and turned, and nearly collided with a small, fair-haired cannonball. "Hey, Virg. What's shaking?"

"Ivan, what are you doing here? Where's your escort?" Virgil scanned the horizon hopefully. "You know you're not supposed to be wandering around alone!"

The boy shrugged, displaying a smile dotted with missing baby teeth. "Eh, Dad says if anyone does kidnap me they'll give me right back. And probably sue. I was waiting for you. Happy birthday!"

In spite of himself, Virgil was touched. "Thanks. I mean that."

"Of course you do. Oh, I made you something." The boy fished around in his pocket for a moment and then pulled out…a stick of wood?

"It's a book-mark." Ivan displayed it proudly. "See? I burned the characters of your name into it. Took me ages; I kept doing it wrong and burning all the way through. But I think this one looks good. I finished it this morning. Do you like it?"

From a purely artistic standpoint, the work was laughable. The wood was unfinished, the marks so off-kilter and ragged that if Virgil hadn't known it was supposed to be his name he wouldn't have had a clue what it actually said. However, it was clear that Ivan had gone to a considerable amount of effort and for an eight-year-old…not bad, really.

"I love it. It's perfect." Great, now I'll never get rid of him. Well, I haven't had much luck with that anyway…

"Cool. Can I come over? I bet Uncle Saphir made a cake, right?"

It was on the tip of Virgil's tongue to say no, to send the boy back home, but…well, it wasn't really safe for him to be walking around alone when it was getting dark, and he had come all this way just to give Virgil a birthday present. He was a pest, but Virgil was feeling magnanimous. "You can stay for a little while, just for the cake, then you have to get back to the palace. Deal?"

"Deal!" They shook hands.

As they headed to Virgil's house, Ivan chattered on happily about a thousand different topics, sometimes even changing the subject in the middle of the sentence. The fact that Virgil rarely responded didn't seem to faze him at all.

"Do you feel old?" Ivan suddenly asked. "I'd feel old, if I was fifteen. I'd feel ancient."

"No, but I'd rather be sixteen."

"Why?" Ivan quickened his step. "What's different about sixteen?"

"Because when I'm sixteen I'm leaving."

Ivan frowned at him. "That's stupid; you can't leave. Why would you leave?"

"I've been accepted at the school in Sheridan, where Vilo teaches." Virgil was surprised the little boy didn't already know. "But I can't start until I'm sixteen. So next year I'll go away to school."

_Far away…as far from here as I can fly._

"But…your parents would be so lonely if you left." Ivan's anger was evident, and Virgil stared down at him in surprise. Ivan hardly even got upset about anything. "Your Dad is the best fontechnician in the world; you don't need to go to school to learn!"

"Look, no one learns the same way and no one teaches the same way. I only know Dad's way right now, but at school I can learn a lot of different things. New ideas and new ways to look at the world. He knows that; he and Papa know this is what I want to do and they support me. Why is it any of your business, anyway? Just because you're stuck in this place with these idiots doesn't mean I have to be."

The boy had been staring at the ground, but when he looked up Virgil was startled to see his eyes filled with tears. "Ivan, what…"

"I hate you!" Ivan snarled. "I hate you, Virgil! I hope you go off to Sheridan and never come back!" He took off back down the street toward the palace, dodging around surprised pedestrians. Most of home recognized the young prince and presented Virgil with withering stares, convinced he must have done or tried to do something horrible to the smaller boy.

Virgil started to go after the kid and then stopped himself. If Ivan was going to be weird, let his parents handle it. It had nothing to do with him.

He had a birthday party to get to.

**********************************************

_Jade was lost. Utterly and completely lost and he was perfectly content to stay that way._

_Blunt fingertips digging into his shoulders. A small, thin body wrapped around his own. Hot breath against his cheek. Gasping, ragged noises that might have been his name or might have been something else entirely. The pressure of a heel against his spine. The blistering heat…_

_Here, in these moments, he didn't have be anything but himself. There was no Colonel here, no confidant, no mentor, no teacher, no Necromancer. He could shed it all, remove his infamous self-control as easily as he'd removed his clothing, and just exist for nothing but the pleasure of existing; the pleasure of the pleasure not only for himself, but for what he could bring to his lover as well._

_Saphir was submissive enough to appeal to Jade's inherent need for control, and aggressive enough to make sure that control didn't impede on what he wanted for himself. If he wasn't getting what he desired he felt no shame at all in demanding it. Loudly._

_Now, however, none of those not-quite-human noises sounded like a complaint._

_If the finer details of their relationship had ever become well known, Jade knew that a lot of people would have been truly surprised. There were set ideas, after all, about this sort of thing. He'd had some of those same ideas himself going into this; ideas that Saphir found touching, amusing, and quite disposable. While Jade had had far more lovers in his life, only a handful had been male and he'd never allowed any of them to…well, take charge, so to speak. Saphir had thrown down the gauntlet with a simple "Well, it's not for everyone. If you don't think you're man enough, I'll understand." He'd given in almost at once, and to his own surprise found he'd developed a sort of taste for it. Not something he wanted every day, mind you, but it wasn't nearly as unpleasant or…demeaning as he'd expected it to be. However, when it was all said and done, he still preferred it like this._

_Jade moved closer to the cusp, dragging Saphir with him. The figure beneath him began to blur. Saphir's head snapped back against the blue pillowcase but he didn't close his eyes. Jade liked to see his eyes, liked to watch him when it happened, and Saphir usually indulged him in that. Those eyes took on a glitter of smugness now, and he leaned up, his lips brushing against Jade's ear. He knew this body, this man, better than he knew himself, and he knew how to bring Jade over with just one whispered word._

"_Master…"_

_Jade's body began to tremble violently. So close….so very close…_

_His left hand dug into the sheets next to Saphir's head, the white hair tangling around his fingers. His right moved up, cupping against his lover's throat, and then began to squeeze._

_Saphir's face turned red, and it took in a moment to realize what was happening. His eyes turned to shock as he began clawing at Jade's fingers, but Jade pushed tighter, feeling the big veins collapse under the pressure. Saphir's eyes were horrified, betrayed, and he struggled wildly, fighting for his life._

_Jade laughed and went over the edge._

_*********************_

"No! That never happened!" Jade shook in fury as the memory was violently ripped away from him and distorted beyond recognition. "I never hurt him! Never!"

_//It was the perfect set-up. He had to be punished for his crimes and you felt responsible enough to be the one to do it. So you led him on, lied to him, told him you loved him. Then in that moment, when his trust in your was complete, you administered justice.//_

"What a vivid imagination you have…" Jade snapped back, his control returning but the horrible image still branded into his brain. His stomach lurched and if there'd been anything inside it would have abandoned ship. Saphir's throat crumbling beneath his fingers…

_//But you couldn't take it; you weren't strong enough to live with what you'd done. So you came here, inside your head, and created a different version. The happy domestic life. The child he couldn't give you. The child you invented…//_

"I can assure you, if I'd invented Vilo he'd be vastly different. For one thing, we wouldn't be banned from that lovely little seafood restaurant I was so fond of…"

_//Even now you cling to your delusion. There is no Vilo, Necromancer. There never was. Saphir died at your hands. Someday, you'll accept that.//_

"Someday, Peony's pets will sprout wings. Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for this?"

_//Shall I show you again? Show you what you did to him, Necromancer? How much you enjoyed it?//_

The image began to rewind in his head, and he was helpless to stop it. Once again he was on the bed, the satin against his knees, the little body under his mindless from need and pleasure. Once again that whisper… "Master" and his hands on the slender throat.

Then again that feeling of comfort, the feeling of being snatched away. The horrible image faded, and Jade was surrounded by warmth and light. He collapsed against it like a toddler in his mother's arms, trying to keep the nightmares at bay.

_Sleep…I'll keep you away from him as long as I can. Sleep…_

**Vilo's POV:**

My father will tell anyone who stands still long enough to listen that he's not a teacher of any sort and that he has no patience for it. However, he simply can't help himself, and one of his great lessons to his children was that no plan, no matter how well thought out, was fool-proof.

I may not have been a genius, then or now, but the one thing I was good at was thinking on my feet. I had developed the skill early in life and it had saved my life more than once. In that area (and only that) I was and will forever be Virgil's superior. It's nothing against my brother, but he doesn't have a dose of street-smarts anywhere in him. Why should he? He was pampered from birth. I never resented him that, but I was bright enough to recognize that in a lot of areas and ways he was going to need me.

Virgil had showed up at the palace claiming to be a close, personal friend of Kratos. That wasn't a lie. Virgil and Kratos were very fond of each other. In Virgil's time, that was. However, the Kratos in my time didn't know "Riles Siving" from a hole in the ground and that small, overlooked detail on my brother's part could have blown the entire thing out of the water.

Luckily he had me.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Charlie and I ran back to the palace that day like our feet were on fire. Poor Charlie. Even then he was a gentle spirit. He likes his life to be nice and calm and uncomplicated, and he was probably regretting that he'd ever decided to befriend me.

By the time we'd managed to reach the palace and I'd managed to gasp (and yes, sob out) the story to the guards it ended up being pointless. They reached the battle scene to find that Kratos and Noah had already knocked the mockery of my father unconscious. It wasn't until much later that I realized they'd never needed the guards; Noah had simply wanted Charlie and I out of danger while they took care of the situation.

Jerks…

*******************************

"Guy's going to be alright. He lost a great deal of blood and he's not awake yet, but he'll recover." Peony rubbed at his eyes wearily.

"Where did you put it?" Saphir asked, leaning back in his own chair. "I don't want it anywhere near Vilo."

"It's in the dungeon and pretty harmless thanks to the Fon-slot seal."

"Don't get overconfident. It's based on Jade and Jade managed to undo the seal on his own, if you recall." Saphir's voice was tight with worry. "I wish you'd let me question it again."

"Pointless. It's not talking and it gets too…agitated when it sees you." Peony wanted to chuckle but realized it would be inappropriate given the situation.

He did it anyway.

"That is not funny! Do you have any idea…"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Saphir, we're going to get him back. Just as soon as they finish refueling the Albiore we're going after _our _Jade. If that thing took him inside the Void he has to still be there And Vilo, don't even think of asking again. We are not taking you with us."

"I think that's a mistake." Virgil offered. "The one thing Lẽtum fears is a 7th Fonist. You should take every 7th you can fit onto the Albiore."

"Riles, we respect your opinion but Jade would never forgive us for putting his son in danger." Peony sighed. "He'll be mad enough that we're taking Saphir but we need his brains on this. The kid stays put."

There was a polite knock on the door and Kratos entered, trailed by the faithful Noah. "Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all. We were just making plans, and your friend Riles and I were having a minor disagreement."

Kratos glanced over at his "friend" in confusion, and Saphir noticed that both Riles and Vilo suddenly looked panicked. "Kratos." Vilo jumped to his feet. "You remember Riles, right? You sent him here to help us out with Lẽtum?" He gave Kratos a steady look.

"Yes, of course. Riles." Kratos shook himself and nodded. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Riles" relaxed visibly, to Saphir's further confusion. What the hell was going on here?

"Fine, thank you. I was explaining that I feel we need to bring Vilo with us when we go back into your Void."

"I agree entirely. I wanted to bring him along last time but his father was against it."

"Rightly so!" Saphir's voice rose an octave. "To deliberately put the child in danger…"

"He's no safer here." Kratos replied softly. "If we don't manage to defeat it or at least free Jade it's going to come for him again. It almost got him today and we were close by. No one's safe right now, not anywhere. And if we're all gone, who's going to protect him? That's why Jade kept carting him around in the first place, because he was afraid of what might happen if he left him unguarded. And Jade was sure, completely sure, that Lẽtum couldn't touch Vilo directly. That's why he sent the replica. Truth is that he'd probably be safer than any of us on that plane."

Vilo tried to pretend to still be interested in the discussion, but he knew how it was going to turn out. Of course he was going to get to go; Virgil had promised him that.

But there was a cold feeling deep in his gut that he didn't recognize, and it took him a moment to realize the bitter truth. He was afraid. A big part of him, the biggest part, didn't want to be on the Albiore, didn't want to go anywhere near Lẽtum, and would have been perfectly happy to allow the adults to handle everything.

"It's going to be okay, Vilo." Virgil seemed to read his mind. "Trust me."

I do trust you, Vilo thought. But when it comes down to it, can I trust me?


	35. Chapter 35

Author's Note:

_First of all, my deep apologies that this chapter took so blasted long to post. I won't bore anyone with details, but I am sorry. Second, many times stories write themselves and this one has decided to make a liar out of me. *grins*. You'll see what I mean if you read it; all I can say is that he wanted to be in the story and he was too persistent to ignore. Third: I'm using new word-crunching software and trying to adjust to a laptop keyboard right now so I apologize if at points it looks like a 7-year-old wrote it. Fourth, the tool-in-the-motor thing is another thing that I keeping feeling I may have read somewhere else, so if I am ripping anyone off on this please let know and I'll go back and edit. Having been plagiarized once years ago I'm always paranoid about accidentally doing it to someone else. Fifth: the study Jade refers to is actually real._

**Chapter 35**

Jade had once been unfortunate enough to be in the engine-room of the Tartarus when a tool had been sucked, literally, right into the motor. The sound of screeching, twisting, grinding metal would haunt him until his dying day. He'd seldom heard anything in his life as hideous and ear-splitting.

Today...well, it was close.

From behind the closed door to the basement lab, three voices could be heard raised in song, if one were actually generous enough to call it that. The topic of the ballad was a young lady who upon coming to Chesedonia had lost all of her money and had several hilarious adventures trying to earn enough for the voyage home. Apparently the three singers had decided her life wasn't challenging enough and were cheerfully rectifying the situation by adding their own lyrics.

Saphir's nasally tenor combined with Vilo's pre-adolescent crackling, and rose in harmony (a bit) with Max's high-pitched contributions.

"And then she fell in a pile of dung...."

In Jade's arms, Virgil turned his head to stare at the basement door in both horror and fascination, and then gave his father a questioning look.

"Don't ask me." Jade shrugged. "I haven't a clue, and in time you'll learn it's simply better not to ask questions."

Shaking his head at the caterwauling one last time, he carried Virgil away from the door and out into the sunny living area of the house, pausing to deposit him in the middle of a white-shag throw-rug already piled high with toys. With a quick motion he pulled the collapsible baby-gate shut behind them and clicked the latch into place. "There, that should hold you, at least for now."

The minute Jade sat down on the sofa, Virgil carefully pulled himself to his feet and toddled over to the gate, grabbing the metal latch in both hands and grunting in frustration. Jade chuckled to himself watching him; while Virgil understood the mechanics behind the lock, at one he lacked the physical strength to actually push the heavy spring down enough to release it, and of course he was simply too young to figure out why his efforts weren't working. The gate annoyed him to no end, but it was a necessity; ever since learning to walk Virgil had moved with the determination to disassemble, break, take apart, or otherwise total everything he could get his hands on. He was a miniature wrecking-ball and while Jade couldn't be certain of avoiding disaster by keeping him locked in one place at least he could somewhat keep an eye on him.

"Open." Virgil now commanded the gate, and Jade laughed again, earning him a baleful look from his son. "My apologies; I wasn't mocking you. You sounded remarkably like Saphir just now. It's not going to open until I open it, and I have no intention of doing so. Come play with your blocks."

He wasn't ever sure exactly how much Virgil understood (more than anyone would give him credit for, most likely) but the baby seemed to sigh to himself before toddling back across the room and sitting back down on the rug with a grunt. He gave the gate one last glance before gathering the heavy wooden blocks around him in a haphazard pile.

Jade had once read a study about the habits of small children, and had been rather intrigued to learn that when given building blocks as playthings, with no outside prompting, little boys tended to build towers out of them while little girls built boxes and containers, supposedly an unconscious representation of their own undeveloped sexuality. He had been curious to see this for himself, and sure enough Virgil had backed up the study by creating towers. If it were a representation of his sexual subconscious, judging from the size of his creations the boy had very ambitious (if not entirely realistic) plans for his future.

Studying the tower for a moment, Virgil suddenly began clapping his hands against it, sending the blocks scattering everywhere. The baby doubled over laughing at his accomplishment.

Then again, perhaps the people who did studies were idiots.

Before Virgil's 'birth' Jade had promised, sincerely, to love the child as his own. In truth, he had expected the root of that love to be based on the boy's connection to Saphir. What he hadn't expected was how fiercely he'd come to love Virgil for himself, in his own right. His youngest son, like his oldest, was a constant source of fascination to him; the moment he thought he had them figured out the boys immediately changed all the rules and he had to start from scratch.

Luckily for all of them, Virgil had outgrown the colicky, cranky newborn stage months ago. That wasn't a period Jade cared to repeat or even think about. Saphir, being Saphir, had panicked at the fact that Virgil seemed to never stop crying, and had convinced Jade to take him to doctor after doctor. They all examined the baby carefully and reached the same conclusion; Virgil was perfectly healthy. He simply liked to complain.

The stress had taken it's toll on his parents' relationship as well. For a while there he and Saphir had been constantly at each other's throats; it seemed to Jade that Saphir found fault with every thing he did in regard to Virgil; he wasn't heating his bottles enough. He wasn't fastening the diapers the correct way, and then if Jade held back he found himself accused of neglecting Virgil and not really caring about him.

The situation had come to a head when Saphir had gone in to wake the baby from a nap and found him missing. After some hysteria (which Jade had for once joined in), they discovered the culprits to be both Vilo and Peony. The pair had conspired to whisk Virgil off to the palace in order to give his exhausted parents a night to themselves. It had worked wonders, and Peony had been more than happy to snatch their son in the future when he thought they needed it.

Virgil still cried very easily; he was an emotional child and probably always would be, and he startled far more quickly than Jade liked. Hopefully he'd outgrow that part; a boy who jumped at his own shadow would find himself the victim of all sorts of pranks once he started school. In that regard he was again himself; Saphir had been so fool-hardy that he didn't run away even when he should have. Oh sure, he might go off to lick his wounds if a battle didn't go his way, but he'd never had any qualms about running toward that battle to begin with.

Jade now slid down onto the floor, and placed several blocks on top of each other. Virgil grinned at him, displaying his new teeth, and knocked them down again with a giggle. Jade pretended to frown and put them back in place. Virgil grabbed another one and began gnawing on it, a trickle of drool making its way down the front of his blue overalls. (That was another battle, one Jade had won. If Saphir wanted to dress something in pink he had to make do with Max.)

"Now really, you just ate." Jade pretended to frown. "I know sometimes the food isn't quite to your liking, but it has to taste better than wood."

Their play was interrupted by a loud knock on the front door.

Jade sighed. "I wasn't expecting anyone today. Were you?"

Virgil solemnly shook his head. Jade didn't think he understood the question; just that it was one.

"Hopefully it's someone selling something. You seemed to enjoy how I got rid of the last one." He left Virgil on the floor and pulled open the heavy door, trying to decide how best to frighten the wits out of whomever had dared to disturb their peaceful afternoon.

"Ah, Jade, great, glad I caught you at home." Winston shoved past his adopted brother before Jade could react, a thick binder of papers in his hands. "Got those documents you promised to look over in regards to Mother's estate."

Jade tried to control his temper. "Oh, by all means, Winston, do come in."

"Now don't you get smart with me. You promised Mother you'd look at these weeks ago and you've been trying to weasel out of it ever since."

"Well, really, it's not as if there isn't time. As far as I know the old bat isn't even dead yet, or in poor health." Jade shut the door behind them. "Or should I be offering my condolences?"

"She's not young any more, Jade, and you know it! She just wants everything in order when the time comes." He peered past Jade to the baby on the carpet, who had been avidly watching the conversation. "Well, hullo there. Got you babysitting today, huh Jade?"

"You'll have to explain to me how that works, Winston. I wasn't aware it was possible to babysit one's own child." He held up his hand. "And Winston? I suggest you very carefully consider the next words out of your mouth."

Winston snapped down what he was about to say. "Well, he's a cute little bugger. Virgil, right?"

Before Jade could react Winston had knelt down and scooped the baby up into his arms. "Look at those eyes; you'll break hearts with those, lad. See if you don't."

To Jade's utter shock, Virgil laughed and patted Winston on the cheek. Strangers were just one of the many things that terrified his young son; he couldn't recall ever seeing him take to someone he didn't know.

He could only hope that Saphir didn't happen to wander in just now and see who was doting on his son. Or worse, Vilo could see... Might as well move this along.

"My paperwork is in the other room. I'll be back in a moment."

Winston nodded absently, still focused on Virgil, who was now crowing in delight.

Really, there was no accounting for taste. And here they'd always been proud of how bright Virgil seemed to be.

A few minutes later Jade returned to find Winston's bulk lounging on the sofa, with the giggling baby still on his lap. Winston had for some reason handed Virgil his pocket watch, and Virgil was studying it in fascination. Jade, still baffled, sat down next to them and laid his papers out on the coffee table.

Virgil shoved the watch into his mouth and bit down.

"He's probably trying to determine if it's real gold." Jade offered. "He is Saphir's, you know."

"You know, Jade, I never quite figured you for all of this." Winston waved his hand. "Diapers and what-not."

Jade sighed again. He was getting rather tired of hearing that, from almost everyone he knew. He repeated what had become his stock answer. "It's not so unusual is it? For a man my age to want the comforts of family around him?"

And it is a comfort, one I never could have imaged.

"Well, not for any other man, but...you're you, Jade."

Winston bounced the baby again. "Treasure it, in any case. He'll be grown before you know it. Makes me wish mine were this small again."

"Yours were born bigger than that, Winston. I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised by your interest in him, given how you feel about Saphir."

"Eh, none of that's the lad's fault, is it Virgil? Boy's innocent." Winston's face turned serious. "Of course, not everyone's going to see it that way. I assume you've thought of that, Jade?"

"Since before he was even conceived. We know what people are going to say to him someday, and about him, and to be honest we haven't a clue how to go about preventing it. I suppose he'll just have to cope."

Winston paused for a moment. "Jade, I know you think I'm just on the good side of useless, but it so happens I do have some skills, one of which is that I happen to be in good standing with those same people who'll try to look down their noses at this boy. I can't stop all of the gossip, but I can make things a good deal easier for him, especially when it comes time for him to enter society. And don't tell me he won't care about that, because he probably will. He's going to grow up around the elite, after all, and it'll be normal for him to want to be a part of that circle."

Jade stared at Winston for a moment, and then managed to get out "And in return for this generosity on my son's behalf?"

"I get to be a proper uncle to him. Take him around now and then, spoil him a bit on his birthdays, that sort of thing. Same as I do for Wendell's."

"I can't make that decision alone. You're not on the best terms with Saphir and he'd have to agree to this."

Heaven help us all...

******************************

When Saphir heard Jade enter the bathroom later that evening and sit down next to the huge, ornate bathtub, he immediately braced himself for the worst.

Jade had a rather annoying habit of hitting him with unpleasant news when he was at his most relaxed and vulnerable; usually emerged up to his neck in foamy, fragrant, nearly boiling water. He'd concluded there were two reasons for this; the first being that Saphir might be calm enough to listen to whatever he had to say. The second was that if Saphir did happen to react rather poorly to Jade's information and decided to go on the offensive, Jade would at least have a few seconds head-start while Saphir threw on his robe. No matter how furious he was, Saphir wasn't about to run through the house after Jade naked and dripping wet. At least, not anymore. (Vilo had reacted to the one and only incident with calm amusement, only asking politely if they please wouldn't mind using their own room for 'freaky stuff')

Jade had hopes tonight that Saphir would be sufficiently parboiled enough by now to at least hear him out. Partly because after mulling it over he had come to the conclusion that Winston's intervention had to be accepted for their son's sake and partly because after a day of playing with blocks, stuffed animals and crayons he was more than ready for some 'adult' games and Saphir being in the right mood and frame of mind was rather necessary for this.

Leaning against the back of the tub, his eyes shut, Saphir sighed loudly. "Just tell me and get it over with, whatever it is."

He listened carefully as Jade related the details of Winston's visit, and his offer to smooth the waters on Virgil's behalf. Several times the smaller man made noises of derision and his fist clenched against the side of the tub, but he said nothing until Jade was finished.

"I don't like it." He finally spoke up. "I don't like it, and I don't like him."

"I know."

"Do you really think he can make things easier for Virgil?"

"I haven't a clue. I do know he has a point; those idiots adore him, and he has a lot of influence in the higher circles. He can't make things worse, in any regard."

"Alright. I'll..." He swallowed. "I'll allow him into Virgil's life, but the moment he tries to turn my son against me..."

"I'll hang him from the front of Curtiss Manor by his toenails. I promise." Jade reached into the bathtub and trailed his fingers along the edge of Saphir's neck. "I'll admit, I wasn't quite expecting you to be this cool-headed about it."

One brown eye opened and gave Jade a wounded look. "Do you really think I'd put my own feelings above what's good for our son?"

"Of course not." Jade winked. "I just thought you'd throw a fit about it first."

"Oh, go away and let me finish my bath." He grumbled half-heartedly.

"Why would I do that? You're in such a cooperative mood I'd be a fool not to take advantage of it. I wonder what else I could get you to agree to..."

******************************************

Jade stirred awake, the fragments of the dream still with him but fading quickly. He tried to hold on, sensing it was important, but only bits and pieces remained. Something about Winston...children's toys...Saphir in a bathtub...a baby...

He finally gave up and opened his eyes, expecting to see the dark of the prison room around him, but to his shock he found himself in a bed. A small one, but soft and clean, in a tiny wooden room. A turn of his head showed him simple surroundings; a table with a light oil lamp, an empty desk, and a wooden chair.

It was a trick, it had to be, but everything felt real to his touch, and the floor felt cool under his bare feet. He found himself wearing nothing but...odd, the peach-bathrobe from the Keterburg Spa. That was unexpected. Was he still dreaming?

He was on guard at once, and without thinking tried to summon his spear, but of course it didn't work. Because, he suspected, this place wasn't any more real than the horrible visions Lẽtum had been searing into his brain since he arrived here. Whatever this was, it was a respite from that and he would take advantage of it for as long as it lasted.

It took a lot to unnerve him; he'd always been the one to do the unnerving but...he shivered now, trying not to think about it too much. It wasn't real; none of it was real, but whatever Lẽtum decided to show him he was helpless to prevent; every touch, every scent.

Every scream...

His only moments of peace before this had come in the brief interludes that his unseen protector could whisk him into for a while. Sometimes he felt like a bone caught between two liger-cubs. No matter how carefully his benefactor hid him sooner or later he'd be yanked away.

He saw a wooden door but lacked the energy to explore it. Why bother? That was probably part of the plan, to get his hopes up, pretend to offer escape only to snatch it back. He'd go along though, whatever it took. As long as the beast was focused on him maybe it would leave his family in peace.

He laid back against the pillow and closed his eyes, almost asleep again when he heard the unmistakable sound of rusty hinges and light, sure footsteps.

"Jade?" Someone asked hesitantly, the voice breaking with emotion. "Is it really you?"

Jade's eyes flew open and he bolted upright in shock. A slender, trembling hand was outstretched toward him. Without another thought he grabbed it, pulling the owner forward into a tight embrace. His outer shell, perfected for so many years, shattered from the rush of emotion he was feeling right now and if this were some trick of Lẽtum's then he was willing to be a patsy.

The boy pulled back finally, his eyes wet with tears. "Guess this means you missed me?"

"Of course not." Jade grinned. "Trick of light; it looked like the ceiling was about to cave in and your head is sufficiently hard enough to make a decent shield."

Luke only laughed.


	36. Chapter 36

_**Author's Note**: Not too much to say this time around. I've tried to proof this carefully but I apologize for any mistakes. I do not own these characters. _

_Also, coming soon (within the next week or so if I get time), there will be a link in my profile to a short, side-fic for the Bonded series. This fic will not be posted here due to the fact that it is a very graphic story about Jade and Saphir's first time. When I say graphic I mean graphic; my POV is that if I'm going to write about men having sex, then they're going to be men having sex. *shrugs* Thanks as always to those who are still reading. You guys rock._

**Chapter 36**

_Shortly after Virgil's 14th birthday, Jade became aware that something serious was troubling his son._

_Not that that was unusual in and of itself. Sometimes it seemed to Jade that from his birth Virgil had actively been seeking out things to trouble himself over, inventing them if none could readily be found. The boy's tendency to whine tried Jade's patience at least once a day, but the difference between then and now was that Virgil wasn't whining about whatever it was. Just the opposite; he wasn't talking about it at all and that was what was causing Jade concern at the moment. Virgil usually had no qualms about laying his problems out for all to see (usually with the hope that his parents would find some way to correct the situation.)_

_It was a cold, rainy day when Jade finally decided to confront the situation head-on. Saphir had been of the mind that Virgil would talk about whatever it was when he was good and ready, but Jade decided he couldn't wait for that point. If someone had hurt his son, or was currently hurting him, Jade wanted names and he wanted them immediately. _

_He found Virgil in the library, curled up in his favorite window seat with a heavy book on his lap. The boy wasn't reading, however. He was simply staring out the window at the rain pelting the lush gardens outside. _

_Jade approached him slowly and put a hand on his shoulder. Virgil gave him a quick half-smile and then returned to his brooding._

_"Do you want to talk about it, Wart?"_

_Virgil glanced at him again. "When you say it like that, it usually means I don't have a choice."_

_"Guilty as charged. You've been moping around for weeks and neither of us are leaving this room until I know the reason why." Jade sat down on the padded bench next to his son. "So you might as well get on with it."_

_Virgil sighed and closed the book. "Before you ended up with Dad, you liked girls, right? I mean, you liked girls too."_

_"Virgil, I believe the only way to sum up my previous activities is 'any port in a storm', as crude as that might sound. When I felt the need to...entertain myself...I chose the nearest, most attractive option. Those options usually tended to be female, but not always."_

_"But Dad...he's only ever liked guys. I mean, as far as I know."_

_"That is correct."_

_"Why?" Virgil bit his lip. "What makes people like what they like, I mean, guys or girls?"_

_"Saphir once asked me the same thing, more or less. Some argue that it's built into our fonons; others will tell you it's how we're raised. I only know those who deny such a basic aspect of themselves usually wind up regretting it."_

_"Vilo only likes women." _

_Jade was starting to have an inkling about where this conversation was going. Don't push him, he told himself firmly. Let it come naturally._

_"I've never tried to influence Vilo on that one way or another. He's attracted to women only, as far as I know. The majority of men are; it's not unusual._

_"All of the guys at my school like girls. It's all they ever talk about." Virgil almost whispered. "A lot of them have girlfriends already."_

_"There aren't any girls you like, are there?" Jade asked softly._

_Virgil shook his head, not meeting Jade's eyes._

_"And boys? There's an attraction there?"_

_"Sometimes. More than sometimes."_

_Jade sat back. "Well, then I'm not sure I understand the reason for all this gloom. It's not as if you're unfamiliar with the concept. For a boy who never had any idea such things were possible, he'd probably view himself as a freak of nature. However, you've seen for yourself that a happy relationship is based on more than gender. What's the problem?"_

_Virgil was quiet again and then finally blurted out, his voice cracking, "I'm already different enough."_

_"Ah, so that's it." Jade reached out and gently ruffled Virgil's pale hair. "Well, you are different, and there's simply no getting around that. I really don't see that this is going to make much of a difference one way or another. Either they'll accept you in time or they won't, but either way it certainly won't be based on what bed partners you choose."_

_"I guess not." Virgil seemed to relax marginally. "I just thought...I'd been waiting to like girls. I thought I'd finally have something I could talk about with them, that they'd understand, but...I couldn't. I tried and tried, but I couldn't, even the pretty ones."_

_"I once heard insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over, and expecting the results to be different. I dislike sweets; I always have, even as a child. I can force myself to eat them, but to what purpose? Eating them isn't going to give me a taste for them; all it's going to do is make me feel ill. Why force interest that simply doesn't exist? You'll find when you get older you won't lack for companionship, if that's what concerns you. There are numerous establishments in town that cater to special interests, and I will bet good gald that a time or two you'll see some of those self-same boys who are now proclaiming themselves to be Heaven's gift to young ladies everywhere."_

_"Do I have to pay for it?" Virgil asked suspiciously, and Jade burst out laughing. "Only if you want to. I seriously doubt you'll find the need; women tend to need a bit of motivation before they'll part with their virtue. Either monetary or a promise of matrimony. Or at the very least that you'll remember their name afterward. Men are far easier to bed. However, good value can be found for the right price. Sometimes it's well worth it." He paused. "I'll assume you understand the basic mechanics?"_

_Virgil blushed and nodded. _

_"Good. We can skip over that bit. However, I will share with you a bit of advice guaranteed to save you a lot of future time and trouble. Always keep plenty of apple gels on hand."_

_"You mean...for afterward?"_

_"No, I mean during. It's thick enough to be used as lubricant, plus it heals any damage along the way. Don't ever use lemon gels; they're far too acidic. Of course, you won't have to worry about that for a long while yet, but it's good to know."_

_If the boy turned any more red, Jade thought he was going to explode. He didn't need to be a mind-reader to realize Virgil was thinking back on the fact that as long as he'd known his parents their bedchamber had always smelled of apples. "If you're old enough to have these feelings you're old enough to have this conversation." Jade cupped his son's chin so that Virgil was looking into his eyes. "I never had the opportunity with Vilo; by the time he arrived he knew more on the subject than I did." He stood up and stretched. "Just make sure of one thing; if you are looking for nothing more than a little warmth in the night make sure your partner is fully aware of this. There's no need to break anyone's heart for a little pleasure."_

_"Like you did?"_

_"Yes, like I did." Jade wasn't sure how the boy knew about that, but supposed it didn't matter. "Also, on this subject Saphir and I will never agree so you'll hear different advice from both of us. I spent my youth looking for pleasure; I never had any dalliance that lasted for longer than one night. On the other hand, he went into every relationship with the hopes of finding something permanent. I had far better luck finding what I wanted than he did, at least in those days, but he still feels his motivations were superior. He'll throttle me for telling you this, but if you're not ready for love, don't deny yourself a good time in the interim. It's excellent stress relief. Besides, it's fun."_

_"Sometimes..." Virgil stood up himself and gave Jade a look that was both awed and a bit amused. "You are a really weird father."_

_"Well, I do try my best. Is that a complaint?"_

_"No...I'm glad." Virgil grinned. "It helps that you're different too. You can understand what it's like."_

_"Feel better?"_

_"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, it's not something I can change, right? Might as well just go with it."_

_*************************_

_Jade now reflected on that long-ago conversation as he watched Saphir storm around the living room, fuming._

_"You're over-reacting, as usual. It's perfectly harmless; he's simply sowing a few wild oats."_

_"A few wild oats? He's plowing every field from here to Kaitzur!"_

_"I am not!" Virgil folded his arms across his chest, trying hard not to laugh. "I'll have you know there are at least a few dozen fields I haven't gotten to yet. I'm only one man, Dad. I do have to sleep now and then."_

_Jaded snickered, which was a mistake because of course Saphir turned on him. "You shut up! This is entirely your fault. You've encouraged this...debauchery._

_"Yes, as a matter of fact I have. You know me better than anyone else and you can't possibly have expected I'd have issues with this. Besides that fact, Virgil is a grown man. What he does is his own business." Jade pointed out calmly. _

_"Well, his business is now all over town. What about how hard we've worked getting him accepted into society? Do you want people gossiping behind his back that he's some kind of...alley cat?"_

_"No one was harmed. Given the circumstances, he's lucky to be alive and really, that should be our only focus right now. Do they have any idea yet how the fire started, Wart?"_

_"They think a lantern got kicked over. Most of the rooms had electricity but some of the guests liked the old-fashioned look." Virgil bit his fingernail. "No one is admitting to anything, of course. No one wants to be stuck with the bill for the damages. I want to have a few words with them myself; do you know how much I paid for those clothes? They were custom-made and now they're gone for good."_

_"Well, if you'd been wearing them when you ran out into the street you'd still have them!" Saphir was almost shouting. _

_"I told you; there wasn't time to get dressed. We smelled the smoke and ran for our lives. The guards were very understanding; I thought for certain we'd be arrested, but they just threw some blankets around us. If it eases your mind, I wasn't totally in the buff." The look on Saphir's face warned him not to continue, but Jade's influence over him was simply too powerful to resist. "I hope if they're going to gossip it's about the fact that I make excellent choices in underwear. They're silk, you know. I've gotten numerous compliments."_

_Saphir made a strangled, choking noise. "See, love? Nothing to worry about." Jade winked him. "Now everyone knows you raised your son to have expensive tastses."_

_"So did you!" Saphir hissed. "That's why he was at that...place...to begin with!"_

_The brothel had been a very old and much-loved establishment in Grand Chokmah, catering to just about every whim and taste the city had to offer. It was a right of passage in Jade's opinion; you frequented the place when you were young, and then after you had children you became incensed at the very mention of it and demanded it be shut down immediately before your own offspring could discover its charms. Not in Jade's case, of course. Although he hadn't been a patron in many decades, he still had extremely fond memories of the place and intended to donate lavishly to seeing it rebuilt, no matter what Saphir's opinion on the matter might happen to be._

_The 'old guard' would of course agree with Saphir and work to stop the new construction; a street full of nude, somewhat smokey patrons milling around out front of it and chattering excitedly had done nothing to convince them it was vital to the life of Grand Chokmah. Of course, the fire could have turned tragic and Jade suspected that was what really had set Saphir off about the entire incident, and led him back to his old stand-by that his gently-raised Virgil had no business anywhere near houses of ill-repute._

_"If you'd just...settle down, find someone." Saphir was pleading now. "There are some lovely young men in town, very well-bred and well-mannered. Don't you want that, son? A nice home? A family of your own? Like your brother has?"_

_"Not really, no." Virgil shrugged. _

_"What DO you want?" Saphir threw up his hands in despair. _

_"Right now, what I want is to end this conversation." Virgil walked over to Saphir and placed his hand on his angry father's shoulder. "I'm okay; I didn't get hurt. I'm not going anywhere, Dad. But this is my life and I have to do it my way. Maybe someday I'll want...what you want me to want. But not yet. Right now...sex is enough. It gives me what I need."_

_"I just want you to be happy." Saphir looked heart-broken. "That's all, and I just don't see how you can be happy like this."_

_"I am happy, I promise. Someday...look, someday maybe I'll meet him, that guy you want me to meet so badly, and you can go nuts planning my wedding, just like you did with Vilo. When that happens I'll settle down and be a really nice, safe, boring husband but not yet. It can't be yet."_

_"Just promise me you'll be careful. I can't take any more scares like this; I'm too old. When they told me you were in there when the fire started..." Saphir's voice had turned tearful. "All I could think of was losing you..."_

_Virgil hugged him tightly. "You're not old, and I promise I'll be careful. Come on, you know me. When have I ever been a risk-taker? I'm a proud coward. I can't imagine any circumstances where I'd knowingly put myself in danger."_

_"You promise me?"_

_  
"You have my word of honor."_

******************************************

If Virgil had stopped to think about it for any length of time, he would have realized that of course the Kratos in this era would have to know the truth about "Riles". If he hadn't, then his future self couldn't have relayed the required information to Virgil. Still, it had been carelessness on his own part that he hadn't taken Kratos aside and explained things, and he was grateful that Vilo had managed to buy him a little time.

As soon as he got the opportunity he filled the man in, and not to his surprise Kratos accepted the facts calmly. Virgil supposed that after five thousand years it took a lot to shock him, but he was glad of his old friend's acceptance and support.

"So I'm still around then?" Kratos had asked finally. He sounded resigned. Virgil didn't know whether to change the subject or apologize sincerely to Kratos that he hadn't died in the last few decades.

"What about me?" Noah grinned. "Am I around too?"

"Of course. You're part of our family too. When I was small I begged for a dog. Kratos told me that you used to be one and that your visits would have to do."

Kratos raised an eyebrow at Noah in apology. Noah shrugged. "I promise I'll be a good one. I'll only pee on the rug on special occasions."

The four of them were holed up in Vilo's chambers, taking a temporary break from the chaos reigning below them. Every now and they could still faintly hear screaming, but it wasn't possible to tell who at this point was contributing.

Saphir was taking the news that Vilo would be accompanying them on the mission rather poorly. Kratos and Virgil had finally managed to convince Peony that the boy was safer with them then he would be anywhere else, and that if they failed in their mission then it was very likely he was as good as dead anyway. Since Peony had the final say in the matter, Saphir had been confident the Emperor would back him up completely. When His Majesty had swayed, Saphir had gone into the tantrum to end all tantrums.

While Vilo had seen Saphir explode before, it was his first real glimpse the man they'd called Dist the Reaper. He'd never understood how his gentle friend could have been capable of the chaos and violence Dist had left in his wake; after today he'd never doubt it again. When Saphir had taken to throwing heavy objects at Peony and Kratos, Peony had very reluctantly summoned the guards and had the man physically restrained until he could be made to see reason.

The Council had immediately convened and demanded Peony revoke Saphir's Bond and send him back to prison for assault on royalty. Peony had cheerfully told them to suck eggs, and then informed them that he too intended to go on the rescue mission. Jade wasn't simply his oldest friend; he was in Peony's mind his brother, and if his brother needed him then Peony wasn't about to sit at home waiting.

At that point, several of the council members had gone into tantrums of their own, horrified at the idea of their heirless ruler going off on a 'suicide mission'. In the new chaos, Saphir had wiggled out of his bonds and vanished. Vilo suspected he was somewhere in the ventilation system but was keeping that information to himself. He couldn't do much harm in there, and the guards had their hands full with the council members.

Vilo yawned and curled up in an overstuffed chair with his arms around his knees. "So how long does it take Saphir to surrender? Or get caught or knocked out or something?"

Virgil shrugged one shoulder. "I have no idea. All anyone ever told me about this part of the story was that he didn't want you to go along. No one ever mentioned a bunch of hysterical sobbing Councilmen on top of it all. I'm starting to become annoyed; it seems you all left out the good parts."

There was a crash from down below, and another yell.

"That sounded expensive." Kratos offered Vilo a plate of small sandwiches a maid had brought up to them. "I hope no one ends up hurt."

Vilo grabbed a sandwich and bit in, made a face when he tasted tomatoes, and chewed anyway. "I hope Saphir calms down soon. We have to leave early and he'll be cranky if he doesn't get enough sleep."

"Vilo, this is your choice, as I've said all along. It's going to be extremely dangerous. You don't have to come." Noah swallowed around his own sandwich. "We'll understand."

"Would you stay home, if it was your dad?" Vilo shot back.

Noah glanced over at Kratos. "No, I don't suppose I would."

"It'll be okay. Virgil knows it'll be okay. That's enough for me."

Virgil sighed. "Vilo, I don't know everything. Just this evening makes me realize there's a lot I wasn't told. There are gaps; I was a kid for most of these stories so maybe you guys edited them for my benefit."

"We're all alive in your future. That's all I need to know." Vilo grabbed another sandwich, and this time peeled off the offending tomatoes first, noticing Kratos had done the same. "Don't worry, Little Brother. I'm not worried."

"Saphir, if you'd just listen to reason..." Peony's pleading voice could be heard outside the door. "I can't allow you to take the kid and vanish, man. Come down out of there, I've got some more really good wine. Let's talk about this..."

There was another crash.

"Not _too_ worried, anyway."


	37. Chapter 37

Author's Note:

Again, not a lot to say. I'm still working on the Jade/Saphir short fic, called Initium. While I had intended to just have them immediately go at it like bunnies, they're insisting on dragging it out a bit and enjoying themselves. So it's coming along, but it's longer than I expected so it may be a while before I have anything to post yet. In the meantime, here is the next non-smut chapter in our ongoing saga...

**Chapter 37**

"I was dying. And...I was okay with that. I mean, I didn't want to die. But...I'd accepted it. I'd done alright and protected the stuff that mattered, and I remember thinking that it wasn't such a bad way to die. People die all the time before they accomplish anything decent, and at least I made my life matter at the end.

"I felt it happen; my body dissolve, and it didn't hurt. It was warm, and it was like...being hugged by my mother. I felt someone near me, and I couldn't see him or anything, but I knew it was Ion, and he was proud of me. I was safe, and I knew that nothing could ever hurt me again.

"Then I heard Lorelei, and it gave me a choice; it said I could stay in the light where it was safe, or I could go back to Auldrant and to my friends. To my family. It would be up to me and no one would be mad no matter what I picked.

"I asked how? How could I go back without a body? Even Lorelei couldn't stop my fonons from separating. I thought maybe it meant as a ghost, and I tried to picture myself haunting my house and rattling chains and scaring my father to death. You know he acts all tough, but he's kind of a chicken about stuff like that. I figured I'd creep up on Natalia a lot too and yell 'Boo' just to see her jump. I was actually kind of getting into the idea.

"Then I felt someone else next to me, besides Ion, and I heard a voice say 'You can take my body. But you better take good care of it, or else I'm coming back from hell and kicking your sorry ass.' I wanted to hug him. I wanted to slap him. I wanted to tell him that if anyone was coming back in his body it had to be him, but...there wasn't time. He was gone, and I had to decide, and some part of me just couldn't let go. I had one chance to live again, and I grabbed on.

"Lorelei healed the damage to Asch's body, and I felt...it was like putting on a new pair of shoes for the first time. It felt tight at first, and then...right. Lorelei was really happy and it said...'Go back now, my beloved. Go home."

"But then...it came. The darkness. God, Jade, nothing ever...The God-Generals, Van...they weren't really evil. I mean, for a while I thought they were, but they thought they were doing the right thing, and that we were the evil ones for trying to stop them. I know they were all twisted but they weren't really evil. This thing was evil. I knew it wanted me, wanted to kill me, but that it couldn't. For some reason I was safe. But I was still in Lorelei, and Lorelei was still weak from Van. Too weak to fight back. So it couldn't touch me, but it took Lorelei, trapped it, and me within it. It can't kill us, but we can't get out either. Lorelei's tried, but it's no use. It's like when it was stuck in Van. Someone has to let it out; it can't get out on its own."

"And until it does, neither can you." Jade finished. He could see it now that he'd had time to take a better look at Luke, the subtle differences that had distinguished the replica from his original. A warrior, Asch had been stronger than Luke, more muscular, older-looking in general. But Asch's eyes had never shown with this much warmth, this much spirit. There was no way anyone who knew the two of them could ever mistake one for the other, and Jade was relieved more than he could say that he was sharing his prison with this one.

The one that he considered a friend.

"How long have I been here?" Luke asked now. "You don't look much older so it can't be too long. It's hard to keep track."

"Over two years. I'll ignore the implication that I'm showing my age at all."

"So tell me everything." Luke sounded as eager as a child. "Everything I've missed. How's Guy? Is Natalia getting along okay with Uncle? Is my mother okay? She had to have been so upset to think both Asch and I were dead. How's..." he stopped.

"Tear?" Jade asked with a small smile and a wink. He briefly summed up the events of the small group's lives for Luke's benefit, and it was to him like seeing a thirsty man guzzle a gallon of water. Luke couldn't get enough, and Jade found himself relating even minor details for the boy's benefit.

"So what about you?" Luke finally asked, noticing Jade leaving out the details of his own life. "Same old Jade, I'll bet. I guess your life never changes."

Jade burst out laughing. "Well, not exactly...someone in the universe has a very odd sense of humor at times. Do you remember when I told you what my hypothetical son would be like...?"

"Wow." Luke listened wide-eyed to Jade's tale. "So you had no idea at all?"

"Not even an inkling. The boy descended on me completely out of the blue, determined to completely turn my life on its rear. He's hot-headed, incorrigible, and more stubborn then ten boys his age. Here I'd always expected fatherhood to be simple compared to other challenges in my life."

"But you love it; I can tell." Luke was grinning. "I'm glad, Jade. I bet you're a really great dad."

"Well, that's open to debate. When I allow him to have his way I'm the best father in the world. When I actually parent him, then I become the devil. I suppose it's the same with all children, but he was raised without limits and it falls on me to install them. Of course, the moment I do Saphir finds some way to circumvent them."

"Dist is still giving you a hard time?" Luke was surprised. "I thought he'd still be in prison. I guess it makes sense he'd come after your kid. He hasn't hurt him, has he?"

"No. He's too busy trying to remake the little hellion in his own image. I'd be irritated if I wasn't so damned fond of him."

Luke gave Jade a confused look. "I don't understand..."

"Well, it started a few weeks after we lost you..."

The hours went by, there was no time here, none that Jade was aware of anyway. There was just the small room, and the boy at his side, and the indescribable comfort that came from knowing he was no longer alone. Of course, he couldn't say any of that out loud, but he sensed Luke understood anyway. He was far more clever than anyone had ever given him credit for.

Jade deliberately tried to shock him by relaying the details of his life with Saphir. He'd expected Luke, sheltered for so much of his short life, to respond the way Natalia had. Luke, however, surprised him by calmly accepting it with a shrug and "Well...whatever makes you happy." The implication was that he personally couldn't see how anyone could possibly be happy 'married' to Dist, but he considered Jade strange anyway. This was just one more thing to add to the list.

"So this place, you control it?" Jade asked now.

"Yeah. Lorelei explained it to me, but I'm not sure I understand it completely. This is all real, by the way." Luke reached out and thumped his knuckles against a wooden wall. "It has to do with my hyperesonance, but since we're in Lorelei it's a lot more powerful. Fonons are everywhere, so I can take them from everywhere, even the air, and reshape them into whatever I want. It took a while back home, but here it's instant. I've been practicing; it's not like I have a lot else to do."

Luke held his hand over the bedside table, and the air underneath it seemed to shimmer. A moment later Luke held up a bright red apple. "See? Nothing to it."

"So, I understand how you became trapped here." Jade was impressed with Luke's abilities, but didn't comment for now. "How did I? It was my understanding that Lorelei isn't overly fond of my ilk."

"It's not, usually, but you helped it so it trusts you. Have you ever seen those little dolls that you can stack inside each other?"

"Nesting dolls. Nephry had a set."

"Yeah, those. I'm in Lorelei. Lorelei is trapped in Lẽtum. You were trapped in Lẽtum next to Lorelei. You with me so far?" Luke took a bite of the apple. "Do you want one? They tasted like crap at first but I've gotten good at them."

Jade shook his head and Luke swallowed and continued. "So anyway, Lorelei likes you. It's been trying to pull you inside every since, but Lẽtum kept pulling back. You were halfway between for awhile. Lorelei was finally able to use my energy and we gave a big tug and...here you are. Lorelei thinks it can't get you back out because I'm here, and as long as I stay close to you it can't get to you. So you're safe. I mean, you're still stuck here, but it can't mess with your head. I'm sorry it took us so long to help; Lorelei told me it showed you some pretty sick things."

"We're going to get out of here, Luke. I have every confidence in the world of that. And now that I'm not constantly being bombarded with images of my family torn to shreds, I can actually concentrate on the pressing matters at hand. I'm going back home, and so are you."

"Home..." Luke shook his head. "Do I even have a home? I mean, they think I'm dead. They've moved on. Maybe it's better for me to just stay here. I did a lot of good but I caused a lot of trouble too. Maybe..."

"Luke! Here I was admiring your new maturity and how you've handled yourself. We don't have the luxury of allowing you to wallow in self-pity. Are you going to assist me or not?"

Luke looked offended at first, and then sighed. "Same old Jade. So what do you want me to do?"

"Well, for starters...I don't suppose you know how to whip up a decent curry?"

***************************************

In the end, getting Saphir to calm down and return to sanity was incredibly simple. So simple that Peony was kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner. However, in his own defense, he thought, he did have a lot on his mind. For instance, stopping the council from declaring him temporarily mad and locking him way 'for his own good'. That might have sucked.

He'd tried at first to send little Max out to reason with Saphir, figuring that if his friend would listen to anyone it would be the cheagle. However, Max was of the mindset that if Saphir wanted something he should get it, so she wasn't about to help 'trick' him into cooperating. Even for a really handsome emperor who kept her well-stocked in waffles.

"Saphir!" Peony finally shouted up at the throne-room ceiling, staring into a black air-vent that had been making suspicious noises. "Vilo is coming with us on this mission! However..." He pulled out his best 'royal' voice. "If you do not come down from there at once, _you_ will not be going along! I will leave you here, alone, to worry. You will have no idea where we are, how we are, or if we're even alive!"

There was silence, and then a small voice wafted out of the air-vent. "You wouldn't..."

"Try me!"

"Sometimes you can be simply impossible!"

"Oh, you have no idea." Peony snarled. "It's after midnight, I am exhausted, I've just agreed to put my honorary nephew in harms way, send myself into probably certain death, been declared insane by my council, and my head hearts like a bitch after someone chucked a vase at it. I have _nothing_ left to lose at this point, so you just try me, pal."

There was a rustling noise, and Saphir's feet appeared at the vent. Slowly, with dignity, he lowered himself until he was dangling by his fingertips, and then dropped the rest of the way to the floor. The normally pristine man was a mess; he was covered in dust, spider-webs, and to Peony's dismay (he'd have to have a serious talk with the maids) what appeared to be rat-droppings. "Well, really." Saphir gave the emperor a disgusted look, "You don't need to be _vulgar_ about it!"

"I stopped them from throwing you back in prison. They wanted to, you know. You gave them perfect fodder tonight; here Jade and I keep telling them how reformed you are, and what a benefit to Malkuth you've become, and then you go pulling Dist out of the moth-balls for an encore performance. That was just sad, man. You made me sad tonight." Peony was trying to look stern.

"Well, how did you expect me to act?" Saphir, who was actually deeply ashamed of himself right now but had no intention of letting His Majesty know that, snapped. "Even if we live through this nightmare, as soon as Jade finds out I allowed Vilo to go along he'll kill me!"

"No, he won't. I'll take the full rap for it, don't worry. I'll even tell him you did everything you could to stop us."

"Everything?" That small voice again.

"Well, I suppose that depends on if you can behave yourself from here on out." For some reason, now that Saphir was back to normal (at least normal for Saphir) all Peony wanted to do was laugh hysterically. It was hard to keep a straight face. "You are going to be a perfect little angel from this point on, up to the point where we kick that demon's behind from even thinking of snatching our Jade, and have Jade back safe and sound with us. After that what you do is between you and him. Can you be good?"

"I am not a small child!"

"Then don't act like one. _Can you be good_?"

"Yes." Saphir hissed.

"Good. Just what I was hoping to hear. Now, go get cleaned up, and apologize to Vilo for upsetting him."

"Vilo is...upset?"

"Oh yes, very." Peony was lying through his teeth and loving every minute of it. "He heard the council demanding I have you arrested and the kid was in tears. He was so afraid they were going to take you away from him. Kratos finally took him off to try and calm him down. Poor little guy; Jade's missing and now he's all worried he's going to lose you too, even though I told him I wouldn't let that happen."

"Oh dear...I have to go see him at once!" Saphir was beside him with guilt now. "I never meant...only trying to protect him...means the world to me..." He took off out of the throne room in a dead run, and only then did Peony allow himself to dissolve into uncontrollable laughter. Maybe that last part was a bit mean, but his head really did hurt.

First he needed to go find a gel or something, then he was going to bed.

He'd earned it today.

************************************

Saphir, having lost all chances of getting them to leave Vilo safely at home, had also failed miserably in convincing Max to stay behind, or go back to the Cheagle Woods for the time being. The cheagle pointed out that she alone would be able to determine a replica of Jade on sight (or smell). When that didn't convince Saphir, she'd added (with some irritation) that she was most certainly _not_ a pet. She stayed with Saphir because she loved him, but she was a free-thinking creature who could make her own decisions and if she wanted to go along she'd like to see him try and stop her.

"No!" Saphir had almost wailed, when a some-what groggy and bandaged Guy had shown up at the palace the following morning. "Not you too!"

"I'm okay..." Guy actually didn't feel even remotely close to okay but had no intention of sharing that. "I have to do this...it's Jade..."

"Listen you..." Saphir snarled. "Do you know how when someone dies, everyone comforts their loved ones by saying 'Don't cry? He wouldn't want you to cry?'"

"Yes..."

"Well, I most certainly do not agree! When I die I fully expect tears, hysteria, and crippling grief! If everyone I care about comes with me and expires on this mission, there will be no one left to mourn for me! So someone has to stay behind!" Saphir folded his arms, pleased at his logic, but noticing Guy wasn't buying it.

"Saphir..." Guy was trying not to laugh, but was interrupted by a cheerful voice behind him. "Hey, wait for us!" He turned to see Anise entering the hallway, dragging Florian by the hand. "We're going too!"

"Waaaaaahhhh!" Saphir suddenly burst into tears and ran back down the hall as Anise stared in shock at his retreating form. "Something I said?"

"He'll get over it." Guy absently rubbed at his head. "Eventually. I understand why he's upset, but we're all adults. Well, most of us."

"Hey!" Anise put her hands on her hips. "I'm more mature than most of you."

"There you are! How dare you keep me in the dark about something like this? If I hadn't ran into Tear on the way here, I wouldn't have known at all! Guy, I'm especially disappointed in you!"

Guy groaned as Natalia marched up to him, followed by Tear, who looked rather sheepish. "Jade is my friend too! You didn't think I deserved to know he was in danger?"

"Now, Your Highness, I told Guy not to tell you." Peony intervened. "No one doubts your skills, but you're just so darned valuable..."

"You are going, correct?" She eyed Peony sternly.

"Well, yes..."

"Then so am I! This isn't just about Jade. This beast is a threat to Kimlasca as well, and as future queen..."

"Okay, okay..." Peony held up his hands in defeat. He glanced at the front door of the palace. "Anyone else? Any widows? Orphans? Suicidal types? Space on the great Malkuth-Kimlasca Rescue-Jade-Or-Die-Trying Mission is going fast!"

"Your Majesty...." One of the council men came forward. "Please, we beg you to reconsider. Or at least, please name an heir should the unthinkable happen."

"Well, now I have given that some thought." Peony said soothingly. "It so happens I've decided to name an temporary heir to the throne. He's a little young, but he's bright as a whip, has excellent leadership skills, and is very diplomatic. If anything does happen to me, you'll find with a little training he'll be a better emperor then I could ever dream of."

"Oh, thank you, Your Majesty. Who is he? Where can we find him? Is his background suitable?"

"He's right up there." Peony pointed to the staircase. "First door on the left. His name is Perry..."


	38. Chapter 38

_Author's Note: It's ALIVE!!!! It's ALiVE!!!! Apologies again for the delay; on top of real life, I've got a bum shoulder now that makes it very hard to type for great lengths of time. It's not great but it's here : first part contains lemony-limey...sex. Yeah, that stuff. It's actually a sort of follow-up to where the side-fic "Initium" left off, which ended with Jade agreeing to actually take Saphir out on a real date. That fic is in my profile and it's rather graphic. This not quite so much, but graphic enough. I still don't own these folks._

_Chapter 38 _

_Without __Lẽtum __to add his two-gald worth, Jade's dreams had gone back to being pleasant. Which given the grimness of his current circumstances was a little surprising, but he wasn't going to complain. _

_That first 'date' he'd agreed to, mainly to get Saphir to stop sulking about Jade returning to work and leaving him alone in the house once again. He'd chosen a private room for them, away from the wagging tongues and the prying eyes of the other patrons, where Saphir could enjoy himself. He had not expected Saphir to find that enjoyment in teasing Jade throughout the entire meal. He'd taken wicked glee from the fact that Jade (the private room being still in a public establishment) could do nothing to retaliate. Nothing except remind Saphir that once they were back home, his little pet would be entirely at his Master's mercy. Saphir had simply looked him in the eye and quipped "I'm wasn't aware you had any."_

_They'd barely made it inside the house before Saphir found himself slammed face-first against the smooth wood of the front door. Too aroused to make it to the bedroom, let alone the sofa a few paces behind them, Jade had simply loosened their respective clothing and fucked Saphir senseless right there. The memory was vivid; the cool door against his left palm contrasting with the scorching heat enclosed within his right, Saphir's fractured cries and gasps, his own heavy breathing, the sounds their bodies made slamming together, all of it turning him into a rutting animal with no other thought than release. He didn't remember biting down where Saphir's shoulder and neck met, but somehow the salty skin was between his teeth and Saphir was howling his approval to any deities that might happen to be in a voyeuristic mood tonight. _

_When they were finished he'd fallen forward against Saphir's back, holding him there while his racing heart calmed itself, soft but still embedded. Sated. Content._

_"Looks like I'll be washing this door tomorrow." Saphir finally muttered below him. "Was it something in the curry?"_

_Jade had started laughing at that, and somehow they'd end up on the floor in a tangled mess, and he'd thought this entire dating thing might not be so bad. Not if it ended like this._

"Jade...Jade, wake up."

Jade's eyes flickered open to see Luke shaking him. "Sorry to bother you, but it's an emergency."

The dream pushed away, Jade was on his feet instantly. "What's happened?"

"Lorelei suspected Lẽtum's been planning something, something to get you to go along with it, but wasn't sure what. It's bad, Jade. If it can pull it off..."

"Pull what off? Luke, you're not making much sense."

"It can't corrupt you like you are now. So it's going to go after you like you used to be. Jade. It's going after you as a kid." Luke's voice was tight, older, and he sounded more than a bit like Asch although Jade doubted he realized it.

"Impossible. It can't travel through time. Can it?" Jade felt a seed of panic begin and tramped it back down.

"Not yet, but Lorelei says it's almost found a way. It's close. But you'd fight it off, right? You were smart enough to know..."

"I was a damn idiot." Jade snapped back. "If it presented itself to me in those days...this _is_ bad, Luke. If it manages to get to the little fiend I was there's no telling what I'd have grown into. Something far worse than this. And without me..."

"I won't be here either." Luke finished, and in spite of the situation managed a half-smile. "So that's the situation. How do we stop it?"

Something was nagging at Jade, had been nagging at him since he arrived here. Years ago as a young man, wounded, at the bottom of a cavern. Unable to heal himself, out of gels, surrounded by monsters. He'd escaped from that cave...how? The answer, when it came to him, was so clear that he laughed out loud, startling his young companion.

"You can use your hyperresonance to recreate anything here, correct?"

"Pretty much. I need time for something big, though."

"Nothing big, something small.I have a germ of an idea...it's so stupidly simple that if this works we'll both be kicking ourselves for not trying it immediately."

Jade spoke two words and Luke's eyes opened wide. "It'll never work!"

"Why not? I'm assuming you haven't already tried it."

"Of course not, but..."

"Then what do we have to lose?"

* * *

You couldn't cram everyone into a tiny space like the Albiore and expect no tension. Peony would have liked no tension; it would have made his life much easier. But it seemed like almost everyone had decided to distract themselves from their worries about Jade by finding someone to irritate along the way.

Saphir and Natalia had been going at it since before the plane had taken off. Peony was keeping count; so far his old classmate had managed to insult Natalia's lineage (both blood and adopted), her clothing, her hair, her intelligence, her breath, and her lipstick. Natalia had come back with a few choice insults of her own, and had really sent Saphir into a fury by suggesting that perhaps Jade would be happier with Lẽtum and was staying away voluntarily.

Saphir being cranky made little Max cranky, and she was taking it out on Willie. Willie, who wasn't very fond of Max to begin with, had begun mocking her back in the cheagle language. Peony couldn't understand what the robot was saying, but from Max's efforts to stuff Willie out the airlock he suspected she did.

Anise and Florian were snapping at each other because of Anise's attempts to sneak off again without the boy. No longer the shy newborn content to follow in her wake, Florian had grown a spine over the last few years and had learned to give as good as he got. Which was exactly the kind of partner Anise needed, but good luck convincing her of that.

"...horrible influence over that child." Natalia's voice rang out above the others. "I heard about your behavior last night and I fully intend to let Jade know..."

"You'll find it hard to tell him anything without any teeth, you little..."

"ENOUGH!" Peony bellowed, and everyone immediately went quiet. "If I hear one more word out of anyone I am turning this plane around. Saphir, come with me. Vilo, you too."

Vilo looked up from a comic book Virgil given him. The boy, who normally loved a good brawl, had been trying stay well out of everyone's way. If no one remembered he was there, no one could decide he needed to be sent back home. "I wasn't doing anything."

"I know, but come along anyway. I need to show you something and now's a good time for it."

Nodding at Kratos in a silent request to try and keep order, Peony headed into the rear of the plane with Vilo (and a now-docile Saphir) trailing behind him, and down a short flight of metal steps into the belly of the Albiore. It was almost entirely empty, except for one thing.

"My chair!" Saphir was almost clapping. "You brought it!"

"Emergency only." Peony's voice was low. "Saphir, if things get bad, and you know they probably will, take the chair and the kid and get out of here. We're here to rescue Jade and stop Lẽtum, but Jade would want protecting Vilo to take priority. Vilo, if something happens to the rest of us, use this to escape. Just go as fast as you can."

"I can't leave you guys behind!" Vilo was insulted.

"You will, and that's an official order."

"I'll make sure he does." Virgil, who had followed them down, spoke up. "I'll get him to safety."

Vilo turned to glare at him and Virgil smiled. "Not that I doubt your skills, but you are still a child."

You son-of-a...gestation tank! Vilo thought in fury. You're enjoying this, suddenly being the older one.

Damn right I am, Virgil's expression seemed to say back.

Saphir, in a better mood now that he had some way of keeping Jade's boy alive, followed Peony back upstairs. Vilo started to follow but Virgil stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but it was too much to resist. You'd do the same thing in my position."

"You just wait." Vilo growled, and walked over to flop down in Saphir's chair. "My turn is coming."

"That's the spirit." Virgil sat down at his feet. "I'm sorry for teasing you. How about I tell you something good, to make up for it?"

"Like what?"

"Do you want to know what you do as an adult that pisses Papa off?"

Vilo's expression turned greedy. "Oh, tell me. But...aren't my Dad and I friends?"

"Very good friends, but that doesn't mean he approves of everything you do. You have a little hobby that drives him insane."

"Yeah?"

"Barroom fights. You're not a drunk, but every now and then you like to have a few and get into it. I consider it a harmless way to let off steam, and even Dad just scolds you for it. But Papa...he's had to fly to Sheridan more than once to bail you out of jail and each time he vows next time he's just letting you sit there and rot."

"Wait..don't I have a wife?"

"She refuses to bail you out. I would if Papa ever did refuse, but Saphir yells at him until he agrees."

"So I don't outgrow getting into fights."

"Not completely, no. We can't change who we are, Vilo. "

"Well, as long as I win the fights."

"Papa was so upset the last fight he made go talk to Michael. That didn't go well; he ended up having to post bail on both of you."

"Sweet! I knew Michael would have my back. What's he like? Tell me about him."

"One of my closest friends. He used to spend school holidays in Grand Chokmah with us, and I always looked forward to it. We all did; he was a rascal but he made life interesting. One year..." Virgil began to laugh and Vilo looked at him curiously. "We had a new neighbor, this old retired military man who decided to devote his life to gardening. Well, up until then Dad had the best garden in the neighborhood. He's passionate about flowers, you know. Papa encouraged it because it got him out of the lab and into fresh air. Anyway, there's this...neighbor hole in the garden wall and he used to stand there and glare at neighbor's garden and mutter about it. Not that he could do anything, but it pissed him off to be upstaged.

"Yeah...I can see that..."

"So Michael started asking Saphir, very innocently, about what kinds of plants were bad for gardens. Saphir was so happy that Michael was taking an interest in it; he rattled off a whole list and then started telling us about bamboo. He said it grew obscenely fast and if you didn't put down plates in the ground around it it would spread all over a yard and destroy your other plants. Michael just kept smiling and nodding and the next night he and I were in the neighbor's yard planting bamboo was his idea, but I went along. I mean, this old fart was making my Dad miserable. He had to be stopped. I was eight and Michael was ten and we were all full of righteous anger."

Vilo giggled and Virgil continued. "What Saphir didn't tell us was that bamboo doesn't just destroy other plants by sprouting up under them. It destroys everything. Before too long we found out the old man had bamboo sprouts popping up through his living room floor."

"Oh geez..."

"Yeah. So he knew HE didn't plant any bamboo in his yard so he went marching into Papa's office and blamed Dad. Papa knew Dad was innocent, and he talked to him about it, and they figured out the culprits pretty quickly. So they laid a trap for us..."

"What kind of trap?"

"The next morning they had some guards show up at the house to take Dad back to jail. Of course Dad played it all to the hilt, shouting that he was innocent, and Papa just kept saying in a sad voice about how Dad had let him down and how much he was going to miss him. Of course this ended with Michael and I both bursting out sobbing and confessing to everything, while Papa just told us we were such good boys for trying to protect Saphir but how he had to pay for his crimes. The guards gave it away when they started laughing and couldn't stop."

"I guess you got punished pretty bad."

"Papa had to pay for the damage to the neighbor's house and to have the bamboo removed. Michael and I spent the rest of our childhood paying him back. Michael was sent home to Keterburg, and we weren't allowed to even write to each other for months. That was the worst part."

"So is he into Fontech?"

"No, Michael is interested in people. He's a psychiatrist, specializing in very abnormal behavior. He looks just like Papa; it's a little scary at times, and he's got a good dose of the devil in him still. Oh, if you speak to him he's the most easy-going person you'll ever meet. But when the mood strikes him..." Virgil laughed. "I'll tell you something I never told anyone, especially not Michael. There was a brief time in my teens that I was in love with him, or thought I was in any case. I outgrew it, which is a good thing because Michael is only interested in the ladies. Maybe he did know how I felt; he never teased me about it if so. That may be the only secret I've ever tried to keep from him; he knows everything else about me. He's the only person back home besides Ivan who knows I'm here."

"Who's Ivan?"

Virgil paused. "Another... acquaintance who found out by accident. You'll meet him someday. You'll actually like him. I can't stand the little brat myself, but I've accepted that I'm in the minority on that. Everyone else loves him."

"Like how Saphir used to feel about Peony, right?"

"He's far worse than his fa...Uncle Peony."

"His father! You were going to say 'his father'. Ivan's Peony's kid! He must be so cool!"

"He is most certainly not cool! He's an idiot with absolutely no sense of boundaries and he's gotten it into his thick skull that he somehow has a chance with me. I'd never stoop to a relationship with someone who can barely spell their own name."

Vilo was leaning against the back of the chair laughing hard now. "You like him! You wouldn't be this upset if you didn't like him!"

"I do not!"

"Virgil's in love....Virgil looooovesss Ivan."

"You take that back! And stop calling me Virgil. I told you before, it's Riles. What if someone hears?"

"Riles loooooovess Ivan."

Before Virgil could snap back a response the Albiore gave a violent shake. Vilo was thrown forward out of the chair and onto the metal floor. Virgil was next to him in an instant, grabbing onto his back as the plane gave a lurch forward. "Hang on, Big Brother. Things are about to get lively."

Vilo nodded, his eyes wide, and his hand closed around Virgil's tightly.

"And I do NOT love Ivan!"


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N**: As always apologies for the long delay here. I've been debating a few points. Some people are probably going to find Jade's idea on how to escape far too simplistic, and that's exactly why I want to go for it. It is a very simple solution, actually, and that is the very reason no one even considered until this point. Luke isn't the brightest bulb anyway, and Jade's so bright that he over-think things. He should also remember that things are not always what they appear to be.

Jade's "vision" may also seem a little out of place. I almost deleted it several times but I decided it was too much fun to write. I'm fascinated by the idea that souls can find each other again if the bond is strong enough. It's not really vital to the story, but it's just something I wanted to include so I beg your indulgence. And yes, the story does actually move on although it may not seem like that at first. It's not all just dialog. I swear there's a plot here. : )

**Chapter 39**

_Michael had come to the conclusion years earlier that the elderly eventually lost all sense of time. That was the only explanation he could come up with for the large number of senior citizens who approached him, greeted him as Colonel Curtiss, and commented on how he "hadn't changed a bit". Depending on his mood, Michael would either gently correct them or play along, inventing outrageous subjects on the spot for "Jade" to wax poetic about. He supposed one day Jade was going to have enough, and Michael would awaken to find himself suspended by his toenails in Mt. Zaleho, but at the moment it was simply too much fun to stop._

_"Poodle dancing?" Virgil almost choked on his lunch. "What the hell is poodle dancing?" They sat at a corner table in the upscale restaurant in the Keterburg_ _hotel. Although they garnered some curious looks now and then from the other patrons, no one disturbed them and Virgil preferred it that way. The sight of them side by side often brought too much attention, especially here. Granted, in Keterburg_ _it was usually positive attention but right now he simply wanted to enjoy his meal and his incorrigible cousin's company._

_"Poodles love to dance; they just need some motivation. Uncle Jade is now the head of the Poodle Dancing Society, Grand Chokmah_ _division. Mrs. Worthington was incredibly impressed; she says she'll look me up when she's in Grand Chokmah_ _next month and bring Creampuff_ _and Tootsie by for lessons."_

_Virgil tried to picture any pleasant outcome from this, and failed miserably. "Well, why not? He's already furious with me; we can both be in his bad graces together. Are you sure you don't want to at least try one?" He changed the subject mid-sentence and offered his fork to Michael. "They're wonderful."_

_Michael shuddered. "No, I do not. I told you before, normal people do not eat snails. Just because they charge a small fortune for them does not make them food." He took a bite of his own grilled salmon. "Why is he upset with you? You're his baby; he let you get away with murder."_

_"Do you remember those hypothetical time experiments I was working on?"_

_"Ah yes." Michael took another bite of his lunch. "And I seem to remember telling you that hypothetically speaking Uncle Jade wasn't going to be overjoyed."_

_"He threatened to have me arrested."_

_Michael choked, and chased down a whole mouthful of food with half a glass of wine. Virgil continued. "He said it would break his heart, but it would be for my own good, to stop me from destroying my own life and everyone else's. I'm a bit flattered, really, that he thinks I could actually pull it off. I may have made the small mistake of telling him that..."_

_"Virgil!"_

_"I know, I know. The proper response would have been to hang my head and grovel and promise to be a good boy from now on, but...this was yesterday. He went home to cool off and...I decided I needed a vacation."_

_"So you're hiding out here."_

_"I'm not hiding! I'm simply putting some distance between us for now."_

_In front of him, Michael's eyes suddenly widened. "Not as much as you think, Cousin. He just got off the elevator and he's headed this way..."_

_"Shit!"_

_"Hello, Uncle!" Michael called out cheerfully, and waved. "Care to join us for lunch?"_

_"Stop that!"_

_Age had not in any way decreased Jade's ability to intimidate those around him. The only concessions he had made his years were some streaks of iron in his hair and more lines around his eyes and mouth. If he'd gone from being considered handsome to distinguished it didn't seem to bother him. Only those closest to him knew he could be as warm and loving as any other man, if he chose to be and on his own terms. His expression now, hardset, indicated that he wasn't here to shower his wayward son with affection._

_"Michael." Jade nodded to his nephew. "Might I have a word with Virgil alone?"_

_"No, you may not! I'm not done with my lunch yet. And if you think I'm missing this, you're insane."_

_"I ran into Lady Worthington along the way...it seems I've taken up a new hobby? I simply can't wait to share the good news with Nephry. You must remember her delight the last time she learned how you amuse yourself at my expense. Although to be fair she was more interested in you deceiving the aged than in any harm done to me."_

_"You won't tell my mother. It was a joke! Besides, I'm a grown man; she doesn't frighten me."_

_Jade simply raised an eyebrow._

_"Virgil, I'll see you later." Michael hurriedly dropped his napkin on his half-full plate. "Nice to see you, Uncle Jade."_

_"Get back here!" Virgil hissed at Michael's retreating back, as Jade slid into the vacant chair. "Traitor!"_

_The two men eyed each other for a moment. "Snail?" Virgil finally asked._

_"Your brother was arrested again last night. They were having a singing contest; apparently he took grievous insult to someone's_ judgment_ of his abilities and responded with a chair. Which probably was less painful than listening to him. I never had that trouble with you; you were always so obedient and well-behaved. Which is why your sudden desire to tamper with the structure of the universe...upsets me."_

_"Not tamper, explore! I'm a scientist! Aren't you curious at all if it can be done?"_

_"You know it can be done. You know it has been done, and you know that the last time it was done the results were nearly catastrophic!" Jade spoke in an angry whisper to keep the straining ears around them from overhearing. _

_"Papa..."_

_"I don't want to fight with you, Virgil. However, as I said before if you continue to explore this path I'll be forced to stop you. The same way I had to stop Saphir_ _so many years ago. I don't want to go through that again, Virgil. Don't make me choose between my duty to Malkuth_ _and my son."_

_"I'm not Dad."_

_"No, you're not. Saphir's_ _motivations were entirely different. He was trying to regain something I took away from him, as wrongly as he went about that. You're acting out of arrogance and ego alone."_

_"Well, you don't need to worry. I've reached an impasse. If it is possible for mere mortals to jaunt about in time, rest assured it's beyond my skills to discover it. So can we end this?"_

_Jade did not look convinced. "All right. I'm not trying to stifle you, Virgil, however...you're correct that you're not Saphir. You may resemble him but inside you've always been far more mine than his. That's what frightens me. I know the things I was capable of, the lengths I would have gone to, did go to, to satisfy my curiosity. Sometimes I wonder if Nephry_ _caved after all..."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_Jade laughed, more relaxed now. "Before you were conceived, Saphir_ _had this idea that your biological mother should be Nephry. That way you'd be genetically tied to both of us. Now I knew that Nephry_ _had tried for years to conceive Michael, and that she would never consent to allow any child of hers to be raised by another, even her own dear brother. But I let Saphir_ _ask anyway; I thought it could be amusing. At first she turned him down gently, but he simply grew more and more insistent and told her she was being selfish. My sister didn't take kindly to that. She said 'Selfish? You know I'd give you the shirt off my back!' and Saphir_ _fired back "I'll take it! Just wrap it around a few eggs and we'll be on our way!"_

_Virgil burst out laughing himself. "Poor Aunt Nephry...she is still Aunt Nephry, right? I don't have to start calling her Mother?"_

_"No. She threw us both out of her house at that point. It was weeks before she'd speak to us again, and by then Saphir_ _had reluctantly agreed to allow a carefully screened anonymous donor the honor. Sometimes though, watching you grow up...odd, that Vilo_ _ended up more like Saphir. I was always envious of how close they were; there's a side of your brother that I'll never fully understand, not the way Saphir_ _does. Just as he despairs at ever figuring you out entirely. Everyone's_ _always kept an eye on you, afraid you'll make the same mistakes Saphir_ _did, but they never realized the danger was from my influence, not his fonons."_

_"I'm not you either, Papa. I'm not going to do something stupid, I promise. Please, trust me. I won't let you down."_

_Please, don't let me let him down._

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Jade and Saphir had spent many long nights as children huddled next to the fireplace trading theories and ideas back and forth. As adults, they spent just as many nights doing much the same, only with a mug of mulled wine thrown into the equation for good measure. One of their favorite topics of conversation was humanity, or the lack there of, and what drove men to better themselves.

Saphir, technician at heart, was of the mindset that society evolved by humans deciding what they wanted and making it happen. Jade believed that most advancement came as the result of fortuitous accidents.

"Come now, do you really believe that some primitive ancestor first struck flint and iron together because he wanted an easier way to make fire?" Jade had teased one evening. He'd been lying on this back on the crimson library sofa, with his lover draped across his chest. Jade's favorite blue bathrobe was spread over them both like a blanket.

"If he understood the properties of the rocks, absolutely!" Saphir was not about to concede defeat. "Why else would he have done it?"

"Perhaps he simply enjoyed pounding stones together and got the shock of his life one day. Most likely his tribe considered him a demon and exiled him for his discovery."

"Well, that was probably _your_ ancestor, then. Mine was no doubt hailed as hero for it, and he most certainly did do it on purpose!"

"Or used a spare rock to beat mine over the head with, and then claimed the credit for himself."

He'd waited for Saphir to take the bait, but the smaller man just sighed in exasperation. "How is it that I give humanity far more credit than you do? Look at all we've accomplished in the short time we've been around. If we don't have what we need we create it. Like we always have."

Was necessity the mother of invention, like Saphir insisted, or was invention simply the bastard child of a normal life: unexpected, shocking, and then hopefully embraced and welcomed by at least someone?

_If we don't have what we need we create it..._

"What do you think?" Luke held up the jar and looked at it dubiously. "They used some strange ingredients in this, Jade. I'm not sure I got them all right."

Jade was privately worried himself as he sniffed at the liquid. "Well, it looks like a wing bottle in any case. The last place our fonons were coded for these things was Hod. If it works that's where we'll end up. I suppose now or never. Ready?"

Luke paused for a second and then blurted out. "I'm not going."

"Luke..."

"Hear me out. Not yet. Lorelei saved my life, Jade. I'm not leaving it here alone to fight Lẽtum. It's my friend; for two years it's been my only friend. All we've had was each other. You fight the monster from outside and I'm going to do everything I can from in here to keep Lorelei going. Then, after you win, then I can go home. But not yet. Please, let me do this."

Jade started to argue and realized it would be pointless. The boy had that look about him he'd come to both admire and dread. "So this is goodbye again."

"Just for now." Luke grinned and tilted his head to the side. "Don't tell anyone you saw me. I want to surprise them if everything goes okay. I'll make another one of these things..." He nodded at the wing bottle "And come out at Hod. I can't wait to meet your kid."

"He'll adore you." Jade offered his hand and when Luke accepted it, he pulled the young man into a quick embrace. "It's not over until you're back safely too."

Luke nodded and watched Jade crack open the bottle and splash the contents about himself. For a moment nothing happened. Luke felt a selfish moment of glee and was horrified by it; did he really want Jade to be trapped here? But then the older man seemed to shimmer and was gone. Once again, Luke was alone.

_Not alone. Never alone, my beloved other self. _

"We're in this together, partner. Either we both get out or neither of us does. I told you that in the beginning."

Luke suddenly hit his knees as a feeling of overwhelming fury and rage crashed over him. Lorelei cried out in agony and Luke felt the entity's embrace around him tighten instinctively, even though he was safe from the source of the anger.

"Is he okay? Did he make it?"

_He's outside of me, outside of it. More than that I cannot tell._

Another voice, seldom heard any longer but always welcome, chimed in. "With your skills he's lucky he made it out at all. That was a pretty crappy wing bottle."

"It worked, didn't it? At least I think it did. I didn't hear you offering any advice. Don't you have virgins to seduce or whatever it is you do there?"

"I told you, it's not like that. And no, right now I don't. You'll screw this up without my help."

Warmth, a feeling almost like a three-way embrace.

Do I really want to give this up? Luke wondered. Go back out there? To the real world? Lorelei would let me stay, if I wanted. I'm loved here; I have everything I need.

_No, you don't. I can't give you what you need most of all._

"Asshole! I'd give everything I had, if I had anything left to give, for a chance to go back! How dare you stand there in _my_ body and..."

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Luke held up his hand in supplication. "I'm sorry."

"You better be!"

_Boys..._It seemed to be accompanied by a loving sigh.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

"So what happened then?"

"Well, it's complicated. A lot of things all happened at the same thing."

"Like?"

"Lẽtum figured out how to open the gate between time periods. Don't ask me how he did it; it wasn't as if any of us bothered to ask him. And this gate, it was a kind of black hole. You know what black holes do, right?"

"They suck."

"Yes. Yes they do. Everything around them gets sucked in. Lẽtum hadn't really planned on anything else being around him in the void; he'd thought his gate would be closed before we got there. See...this gate of his was supposed to shut down once there wasn't anything else there to pull in. But something got in the way; something that accidentally held it open just long enough for us to enter the area."

"What?"

"Dad."

"Papa held the gate open?"

"He didn't mean to. The wing bottle got him away from Lẽtum and would have sent him back to Hod like he'd planned. But the time gate hadn't shut yet so when it detected him passing by it opened up again to take him along for the ride and snagged us in the process. Of course, we didn't know this at the time. We just knew that something had a hold of the Albiore and we assumed it was His Nastiness. But we were on a ship, mind you. Dad doesn't like to talk about what it was like for him to go through the gate unprotected."

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It was similar, very similar, to when Lẽtum had taken him on a tour of his misguided childhood. One minute he felt the familiar tingle of the wing bottle come over him, and had one final glimpse of Luke's face, and then...nothingness.

It was over; he'd failed. He was dead. There was no heaven, no hell, not for the likes of him. Just this blackness, this nothing, and there would never be anything again. This was his punishment, both for his crimes and for his hubris in thinking that he could ever make up for them.

Then came...flashes, images, blasted into his brain only long enough to register them, and then gone again. Some familiar; Nephry was there. Peony. Saphir. The Professor...Other things he didn't understand. Laam. He was Laam.

Lying in a cave, small, under a pile of thick furs. Knowing it was early morning; hearing the sounds of a thunderstorm raging outside. The cave was humid, and smelled of too many unwashed bodies crammed into one place. He could see them; the sagging breasts of the women and the hairy faces of the men. And he knew, somehow, that they had a problem. They needed fire, but the wood was soaked, had been for days.

He turned his head at a noise behind him, and saw Kaar huddled over a small pile of rocks, knocking them together. His tongue was between his teeth in concentration and his lank brown hair hanging was hanging down into his eyes, and Laam felt a thrill of excitement because Kaar was special. Kaar saw things, things others missed. They'd said he was cursed; the scrawny little boy who would never be a hunter, whose parents had given him to Laam's mother when a better son had come along. They'd all mocked him, ignored him, and had even considered casting him out until Laam had discovered just how useful his hereto-unwanted foster-brother could be. Kaar for the most part didn't give a damn about the tribe, but he loved Laam and Laam's mother and so for them he would grudgingly produce new ideas for weapons or hunting techniques or even ways to store food for longer periods of time. It had even been Kaar's idea to sew seeds into the ground themselves and produce vegetation at will instead of relying on the whims of nature."

"Watch, Laam." He whispered now. "I almost have it. Keep watching."

The vision faded, and Jade mentally snatched after it because he wanted to see this, needed to see it, but it was gone again.

Fragments. Water; he lived on a boat. No, he lived in the middle of a scorching desert where a man's value was based on how much water his family could produce. Now he crouched low behind a line of trees eying the line of enemy troops before him, and always the sensation that he was not alone, that another was at his back.

Then...cold. Freezing cold, and that safe presence was gone. He called out for it, in a language he didn't recognize, but there was no answer, just the cold and something wet seeping into his clothing.

It was another few minutes before Jade became aware enough to realize that he was most assuredly not dead. He managed to force his eyelids open and had a brief moment of panic when it seemed he was blind. No, not blind, something was on his eyes. Something...snow. It was snow.

He sat up slowly, one hand on his head. Yes, well, snow seemed to sum it up. He'd expected to come out in the middle of Hod but the wing bottle had decided to deposit him in the middle of an endless snow-field instead.

No, not endless. He shook away the last of the cobwebs. He knew this area well enough; a few kilometers to the west was Keterburg. Not exactly what he'd had in mind, but all things considered it could certainly be worse. He wasn't sure how long he'd been missing in action, but surely it was long enough that his sister would be extremely glad to see him; perhaps even glad enough to part with some of the extremely rare brandy he'd given her as a wedding present.

Of course he couldn't stay long; time was of the essence, but it was with a greatly improved mood that Jade started hiking toward the town of his birth.


End file.
